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Case #13953 Rating: 2.8 out of 5
Horse neglect - 6 horses, 2 dogs seized
Colonie, NY (US)Incident Date: Thursday, Jun 12, 2008
County: Albany
Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Marie Gaida
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
The owner of a Latham motel shuttered last week for filthy conditions now faces 14 counts of animal cruelty for allegedly neglecting six horses and two dogs rescued from the property, according to police and court records.
The misdemeanor charges came 11 years to the day after Marie Gaida was sentenced to 60 days in jail, ordered to pay more than $60,000 and surrender 19 horses seized from her property at 1133 Loudon Road, also known as Karl's Motel.
At her trial, veterinarians described her property as a "concentration camp" for horses. As part of the sentence, Gaida, also known as Marie Svendsen and Marie Griffin, was banned from caring for horses during her three-year probation.
But by the time representatives of the SPCA arrived at the tumbledown motel June 12 -- acting on a complaint from town animal control officers -- the ban had long since expired.
Investigators from the Mohawk & Hudson River Humane Society found six horses, some of them thoroughbreds, standing on untrimmed hooves in pens several feet deep with feces, drinking water that was fouled with "a bloated dead squirrel and a dead bird," according to court records.
Authorities allege the pens were held together by twine and had exposed nails. In one area, horses were found standing in sheds that were so deep with feces there was not enough headroom for the stallions to stand up straight.
Town animal control officers returned with the SPCA and a search warrant on June 16. The horses' hooves had been trimmed, but the conditions allegedly were otherwise unchanged.
What's more, authorities said, they found the nine residents of the motel -- including Gaida -- also living in profoundly unsanitary conditions, forcing the building department to shut the motel down.
Two dogs, one of which had little to no hair on its tail and back, were rescued from a garbage-strewn area behind the motel, according to court records.
Gaida was arrested Wednesday, arraigned in Town Court and released without bail under the supervision of probation and told to be back in court on July 16.
During her trial in 1997 for similar allegations of neglect, Gaida contended she was nursing the emaciated horses back to health. Her attorney argued the veterinarians' descriptions of the conditions were prejudicial.
Back then, police were tipped off by a truck driver who reported bringing nine sickly horses to Gaida's property from Ocala, Fla. The jury convicted her after just 45 minutes.
Kathleen Boland, the assistant Albany County district attorney who prosecuted the case, said at the time she would have preferred to see Gaida barred from ever owning horses again, but the law would not not allow it.
Gaida's address is listed as the motel, which remains closed. Michael Rosch, town building director, said an engineer hired by Gaida recommended at least partial demolition of the motel, but Rosch said further inspection is needed.
Gaida's attorney, Terence Kindlon, could not immediately be reached for comment.
The executive director of the humane society said repeat offenders are common.
"I think there should be a limit," Brad Shear said. "There should be a time when the courts can say, 'Obviously this is a person who can't take care of animals.' "
Case UpdatesThe 77-year-old owner of a Latham motel shuttered in June for unsanitary conditions pleaded guilty Wednesday evening to a misdemeanor attempted animal cruelty charge.
As part of the plea deal, Maria Gaida agreed to forfeit the seized horses and dogs, and was fined $100 by Town Justice Andrew Sommers.
Attorney Lee C. Kindlon said while his client has accepted responsibility for her actions, she still misses the animals.
"She is very saddened since she saw most of these animals born, and has raised them, and she has been part of their lives,'' he said, outside the courtroom. "She feels as if they are part of the family and she has had to say good-bye.''
Gaida was charged in late June with 14 counts of animal cruelty, two weeks after the SPCA confiscated six horses and two dogs from the property of the tumble-down Route 9 motel, which the town dubbed uninhabitable.
Those misdemeanor charges came 11 years to the day after Gaida, also known as Marie Griffin, was sentenced to 60 days in jail, ordered to pay more than $60,000 and surrender 19 horses seized from her property at Karl's Motel for similar allegations.
As part of the sentence in that case, Gaida was banned from caring for horses during her three-year probation.
Brad Shear, executive director of the Mohawk & Hudson River Humane Society, said his organization sought a similar ban this time. Shear said none of the animals will be returned to Gaida.
As for the motel at 1133 Loudon Road, Gaida has been allowed to move back in to one unit but the rest of the building is still unfit for habitation, said Michael Rosch, director of Colonie's Building Department.
Code enforcement, animal control officers and the SPCA swooped in on June 16, finding people living in conditions nearly as filthy as the animals, authorities said.
Rosch said the property still contains numerous code violations but Gaida has insisted to town officials that she would like to make repairs.
Investigators from the SPCA found the horses, some of them thoroughbreds, standing on untrimmed hooves in pens several feet deep with feces, drinking water that was fouled with "a bloated dead squirrel and a dead bird," according to court records.
At the time of her 1997 trial, a county prosecutor said she would have preferred a ban on Gaida ever owning animals again but such a punishment was not allowed under the law. | Source: Times-Union - Oct 7, 2008
Update posted on Oct 8, 2008 - 9:18AM |
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