[Graphic Content]Horse Killed by Traffic in Gulfport

A sad sequence of events has ended with a horse being struck and killed by traffic off of Old Highway 49 in Gulfport. Residents from the area say it was only a matter of time due to the negligence of a land owner at the end of their street.
Phifer Lane is usually a quiet, peaceful neighborhood, but after an early morning accident claimed the life of a pony that’s lived on the street for 20 years, residents are fed up with the negligence of the horse’s owner who lives out of state. Phifer Lane resident Rusty Sumrall said, “It was just this past Sunday that we ended up having to call Gulfport Police Department and with their help we was able to capture him and put him back in his stable and the day after that Animal Control came out and spoke to me and said that he would call the landowner and tell him that if the horse got out one more time that he was going to come and capture it and that would be it.”
But one more time was one time too many as the horse made its way around a make shift barrier and onto Old Highway 49 where residents say it was struck and killed by a vehicle. Sadly, this isn’t the first horse they’ve seen die on that property. Phifer Lane resident Debbie Stang said, “We’re not sure about the first one, how it died, but there were two horses. Just a few months ago the first horse died. There’s been other animals on that property that we’ve had to call Animal Control about and now this. It’s only a few months later.”
Residents say the owner’s disregard not only took these animals lives, but has created numerous problems for the entire area. Phifer Lane resident David Oldstein said, “We’re just concerned for our property that there are people that don’t live anywhere around here coming back and forth constantly and these things happening with that person that owned the horses just not properly taking care of them.”
Animal Control is expected to follow up on the incident.