On Apr. 23 a horse died at the horse track in Panguitch after stepping into a prairie dog hole.

According to reports, a fifteen year old female was trotting her horse around the racetrack when she fell off just prior to the accident, receiving no injuries.

According to the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page, “the horse continued to run after she fell off and the horse stepped into a prairie dog hole causing the horse to flip over the rail and dying.”

The post continued to state that “the protected prairie dogs cause a lot of problems in Garfield County and need to be controlled. The only time we didn’t have an issue with prairie dogs was when the DWR allowed the Sheriff’s Office to take matters in our hands to control them. Something needs to be done regarding the problematic prairie dogs, especially around our fair grounds and racetrack area.”