The owner of two pit bulls faces five misdemeanor charges after the dogs strayed onto a nearby farm Monday and mauled an Arabian mare that later had to be euthanized, police say.
Livingston County Prosecutor David Morse on Thursday charged David Clyde McGalliard, 44, with two counts of allowing a dog to stray and three counts of having unlicensed dogs. Besides the two pit bulls involved in Monday's horse attack, McGalliard had a third pit bull at home, Morse said.
McGalliard lives along the same road where the horse was attacked in rural Handy Township, west of Howell in northwest Livingston County. The charges are 90-day misdemeanors. An arraignment will be scheduled in about two weeks at 53rd District Court in Howell, Morse said.
"The circumstances warranted more than that, but there is nothing more serious we could have charged him with," Morse said.
The Prosecutor's Office contacted state Rep. Joe Hune, R-Hamburg Township, requesting legislation to deal with similar vicious dog attacks. "There's really no charge on the books for dogs attacking other animals, and there should be," Morse said.
The owner of the horse, Kara Sepulveda, could not be reached for comment. A Livingston County Sheriff's deputy who was called to the farm destroyed both dogs.
In September, a pack of four American bulldogs fatally mauled two people in neighboring Iosco Township.
The dogs' owner, Diane Cockrell, 51, is charged with two counts of keeping dangerous animals, causing death, and a separate misdemeanor charge of allowing the dogs to stray. She is scheduled for a pretrial hearing Feb. 11 in Livingston Circuit Court. A tentative trial date is March 24 for Cockrell, who faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.