OXFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. – The mare named K.O. Carmen was put down after reportedly being attacked by a pack of coyotes.
She belonged to the Lapeer County Sheriff's Mounted Division. The division stated at the time (late January) that coyotes had taken down the horse on a farm in Oxford Township.
"They took down a full-size horse. There would be no reason they couldn't have taken me down or a child that was out here playing, sliding in the snow or on a swing set," said the Mounted Division's Lt. Bruce Osmon at the time.
Coyotes had been photographed on the farm, according to the mare's owner Kallie Myers. She said the coyotes already had killed more than 40 ducks and chickens. She believes they killed the horse, though she was not home at the time.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) says interviews have been completed with everyone who was at the farm. According to the DNR, no one saw coyotes on the horse or near the horse. Moreover, the horse was buried before it could be examined.
Meyers said she waited a day to bury K.O. Carmen and the DNR officer who was there never requested the burial be delayed. She also said a person arriving at her home that day saw a coyote leaving the farm and coyote tracks were found.
Tim Payne, the Southeast Michigan Regional Wildlife manager, said there is a remote possibility that the mare slipped and then the coyotes moved in. Myers said that's not consistent with the evidence she saw. She believe there was a blood trail showing the coyotes did attack sooner.
We may never know what happened to K.O. Carmen, but the DNR does not believe coyotes took her down. The DNR also does not believe coyotes are a threat to people.