LCSO needs help finding miniature horse’s owner

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is trying to find the owner of a miniature horse that turned up in North Fort Myers.

LCSO says they found the horse galloping along Mellow Drive and Barbie Lane Thanksgiving morning.

“We never know what we’re going to get,” said Sgt. Randy Hodges with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.

The horse is now chowing down on green grass behind the Lee County Jail after going on quite the adventure. LCSO deputies have named him “Little Bit” while they try to find his owner.

“Someone is taking care of him. He’s not in bad shape at all,” Hodges said.

Sgt. Hodges with the sheriff’s office agricultural unit says they’ll hold the animal for about two weeks, even advertising in the newspaper for the owner to pick him up.

Hodges says unfortunately, it’s pretty typical that the owner doesn’t show up.

“Some places allow you to have livestock. We see quite often where there’s an animal at large, we’ll get there and it’s not supposed to be there,” he said.

So instead of facing a second-degree misdemeanor or paying the impound fee, some owners just don’t claim the animals.

“At the same point and time a lot people think it’s easy to own,” said Matthew Venaleck with Southwest Florida Horse Rescue.

Venaleck says miniature horses are becoming common pets in Southwest Florida, but he wants to see people learning more about owning one before taking the animals in.

“The education behind owning one of these guys has to be a primary factor,” he said.

The sheriff’s office says they are not exactly sure where the horse came from but say the area where he was found isn’t zoned for people to have livestock.

If no one claims “Little Bit” in the next few weeks, he will be auctioned off.