Miniature horse attacked and killed by bear in Southbury

The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said its EnCon officers were called out to the scene on Saturday afternoon. DEEP confirmed that the 150-pound female bear attacked the two horses, leaving one of them dead.

The horse killed was named Savannah and had been with Frank Moon and her family for 10 years.

"It's not often that the horses make noise unless they're hurt and when they scream, they really do scream," Moon said.

Moon said the attack happened after dusk. He said they had just fed the horses when they heard them screaming.

"We did throw something heavy enough that it scared it and it climbed over the fence on the outside," Moon said.

The Moon family said all they could do was watch as the horror played out in what felt like slow motion. The bear sat with its victim, never threatening humans or the other miniature horse still in the barn.

"We stayed, feeling pretty much helpless and useless because there was nothing we could do," Moon said.

When DEEP officials arrived, they did what they usually do when faced with a bear that shows aggression. DEEP officials said they euthanized the bear, which has not been tagged before. The Moon family has mixed emotions about it.

"Savannah was really cute, really lovely, but the bear was just being a bear," Moon said. "It's not good that that happens, but the bear didn't do anything wrong in that sense."

Now, there's just one miniature horse, precious. After living in Southbury for 10 years with no issues, the Moon family is confronting the reality of wilderness.

"I cannot give you the likelihood that I would have thought it was bear," Moon said. "It was so far removed from anything that I thought could happen."

DEEP said a necropsy will be performed on the bear. No other details were released by DEEP.

Miniature horses can live to 25 or 30 years and by nature, they like companions. The Moon family is still considering getting another one.