Case Details

Horses poisoned, animals starved, skeletons found
Greenwood, NY (US)

Date: May 9, 2003
County: Steuben
Local Map: available
Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Anthony N. Imperatrice

Case Updates: 2 update(s) available

Case ID: 1374
Classification: Poisoning, Neglect / Abandonment
Animal: sheep, rabbit (pet), other farm animal, horse, goat, chicken, cat, bird (other farmed)
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Anthony Imperatrice, 67, was charged with four felony counts of poisoning his four draft horses with arsenic at his farm off Colby Creek Road. Investigators who went to his farm found not only the dead horses, but bloated cadavers and skeletons of more than a dozen other animals that had died there earlier. Dozens of surviving animals, many in poor health and living in filth, were rescued and taken to various shelters.

Imperatrice allegedly told investigators that he killed the draft horses because his grown children were fighting over who would take possession of them.  Imperatrice, of Route 248 in Greenwood, was arrested at about 5 p.m. by Steuben County sheriff's Deputy Robert Stewart and Investigator Scott Mazzo of the county Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Imperatrice was arraigned in Hartsville Town Court and sent to the Steuben County Jail in lieu of $5,000 cash bail or $10,000 property bond. More charges are pending, Mazzo said.

He was released Wednesday evening as part of a pre-trial release program that Tunney said assesses the flight risk of those awaiting trial and recommends which ones would be safe to release from jail without bail.

Tunney said Thursday he does not yet have enough information to decide how he'll prosecute the case against Imperatrice. "I have some paperwork, but not enough to decide what I will do with it," he said, adding that a decision may be reached by next week.

One of the agencies that took in some of the surviving animals is calling for severe punishment of Imperatrice.

Farm Sanctuary of Watkins Glen this week issued a statement calling for "a strong prosecution, with both fines and jail time" for Imperatrice. It also said Imperatrice should be banned from ever owning another animal.

"It was a living nightmare for the surviving animals," said Susie Coston, director of the shelter in Watkins Glen. "Bloated, rotting carcasses were blocking the alleyways and doorways to the barns, and the animals were forced to live among the decay and filth."

Coston, who assisted with the removal of surviving animals and the burial of the dead ones, said one goat at the Imperatrice farm was found tethered between two dead horses, while two other goats were tethered in a stall "on top of moldy hay and feces stacked higher than the gate that originally held them.

"The leashes used to tie them were too short," Coston said of the goats, " and the animals were unable to stand up, forcing them to remain on their knees. Their chests and knees were rubbed raw from months of this cruel confinement. When rescuers untied the goats, they crawled on their knees to the door."

The Farm Sanctuary alone accepted 10 sheep and lambs, three goats, a donkey, two draft horses stallions, five Arabian horses, three Scottish Highland cattle, two rabbits, 10 chickens, a pheasant and a peacock, six geese and two cats. The agency says it is attempting to place all of the farm animals.

Imperatrice is out of Steuben County jail, while county District Attorney John Tunney ponders how he'll handle the case.

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Case Updates

Imperatrice was arraigned at 10:30 a.m on Monday, July 26, 2004 in Steuben County Court before Judge Peter Bradstreet on four counts of poisoning animals and one count of aggravated cruelty to animals. Both are class E felonies.

He was arraigned May 9, 2003 in Hartsville Town Court, and sent to the Steuben County Jail when he was unable to post $5,000 cash bail or $10,000 property bond. He has since been released.

A Steuben County grand jury indicted Imperatrice on the charges June 25, 2004.

Authorities said Imperatrice dosed four horses with arsenic following a family dispute in the spring of 2003. The dispute reportedly was among Imperatrice's children regarding inheritance.
Source: The Leader-Online - July 26, 2004
Update posted on Aug 10, 2004 - 12:42PM 
Almost a year after Anthony Imperatrice of Greenwood allegedly poisoned his horses and left them to rot, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is still waiting for legal action.

Vicki Mosgrove, Finger Lakes SPCA executive director, said the case is tied up in a plea from Imperatrice, but she has had little word from Steuben County District Attorney John Tunney, who is handling the case, regarding its status.

Rob Stewart, the Steuben County Sheriff's deputy who made the arrest, has no idea why it's taking so long, either.

"He hasn't returned anyone's calls," said Stewart. "We're waiting on Tunney. We're all ready to go. We've been waiting for a year."

Imperatrice's arrest took place nearly a year ago, in May 2003, on his farm in Greenwood off Colby Creek Road.

The grisly scene began following a family squabble between Imperatrice's children over who would inherit what upon his passing. Fed up with the argument, Imperatrice deliberately poisoned his horses with arsenic.

When investigators raided the farm a month later, four of the large draft horses were dead, and left inside the barn to decompose where they collapsed weeks before. Imperatrice had sprinkled the bloated corpses with lime in an attempt to mask the putrid smell.

Horses, sheep, cows, goats, geese, rabbits, a pheasant and a peacock were among the animals saved by Mazzo, Steuben County Sheriff's deputies and the Steuben County SPCA.

Mosgrove said that based on what little contact the SPCA has had with Tunney, Imperatrice's plea has three aspects, two of which are unresolved. A conditional discharge has been arranged stating that Imperatrice would not be allowed to own any more animals.

The unresolved parts of the plea relate to the charges Imperatrice would incur for expenses associated with fostering out his horses, and the transfer of three of the horses to his daughter's care.

Expenses for the seizure and fostering of the three horses alone totals about $8,000. This does not include the costs associated with the ongoing care of 10 sheep, 10 hens, two rabbits, three goats and a pheasant, also seized from Imperatrice's farm, and now being housed in foster care at Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen.

Mosgrove is against transfer to Imperatrice's daughter. She stated the daughter is an unknown to the SPCA so far as ability to care and provide safety, and Imperatrice should not have a say in directing where the animals wind up.

"Obviously that is a great concern to us. It's a custody issue as far as I see it," Mosgrove said. "It relates directly to the animals' safety ... the ideal situation would be for the horses to remain with the foster families."

Read more: Update posted on Apr 14, 2004 - 10:16AM 

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References

The Evening Tribune
Star Gazette

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