12:19 PM PST on Friday, February 18, 2005

By ANTONIA GIEDWOYN, kgw.com Staff

BORING, Ore. -- A horse owner in Boring was forced to have her Appaloosa euthanized after a neighbor’s pit bull attacked the 28-year-old animal, authorities said.

kgw.com/Clackamas Co. Sheriff's Office

James Asboe.

The attack occurred last Friday when the dog walked out of its owner’s yard, said Clackamas County deputy Joel Manley.

The horse, which had been part of owner Gloria Serhan’s family for nearly three decades, suffered multiple lacerations to its head, face and legs, including deep punctures on several parts of its body, according to Manley.

He said authorities have not brought any charges against dog owner James Asboe, 26, who has been previously arrested for DUIs.

The three-year-old male pit bull, Cruiser, was neither tied up nor locked in the yard, Manley said. In fact, the gate to the yard was open, allowing Cruiser to run around freely and enter the pasture where the horse was.

When James Asboe’s father, Mike Asboe, saw Cruiser attack the horse, he tried to intervene.

“He got the dog off the horse,” Manley said, but by that point it was too late.

Cruiser is currently being held at Clackamas County Animal Control. A hearing to determine the dog’s fate was scheduled for March 8th.

James Asboe lives with his father in the 23410 block of SE Blueridge Dr. in Boring.