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Case ID: 14819

Classification: Neglect / Abandonment

Animal: horse

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Horse neglect
Savona, NY (US)

Incident Date: Sunday, Nov 2, 2008
County: Steuben

Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Kenneth Freeborn

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

A Southern Tier man is charged with animal cruelty after authorities discover several extremely skinny horses.

We saw a couple of those horses in Savona on Route 226 and they were in poor shape. The bony skeletons of the horses are very apparent. The Steuben County Sheriff's Animal Cruelty Investigator says he received a complaint on more than a dozen skinny horses last week.

He says some neighbors have been feeding the horses for the last week. The investigator says the animals will be receiving medical treatment Monday morning.

One neighbor, who owns horses, is disgusted by the sight.

"A person who treats horses like this, you have to wonder how he treats other things and I think the gentleman should spend some time in jail because this is a severe case of cruelty to animals," says neighbor Fay Faucett.

The investigator says the owner, 47 year-old Kenneth Freeman, was arrested Sunday morning for eight counts of animal cruelty. He was given an appearance ticket.

Freeman is not in jail, but will be appearing in Savona Village court on November 10th.

Case Updates

The Finger Lakes SPCA, which in August seized more than 80 starving horses from a Troupsburg breeding farm, has seized eight horses from a farm in Savona and charged their owner with animal neglect.

SPCA Animal Cruelty Investigator Scott Mazzo said the horses are underweight and appear to be suffering either from malnourishment or parasites. A veterinary medical report is expected to clarify the cause of their condition.

The farm is located at 105 E. Lamoka Ave., Savona, where owner Kenneth Freeborn faces eight counts of animal neglect, a misdemeanor. Freeborn is to be arraigned Nov. 10 in Savona village court.

The SPCA filed the charges against Freeborn Nov. 2, after Mazzo visited the farm due to a complaint to the SPCA office on state Route 54 in Bath. In addition to the eight underweight horses, he found one horse dead in a stall. It's possible the horse died after becoming cast against a wall of the stable. "Why it passed away I don't know," Mazzo said. "The way it was laying there, there wasn't a lot of room."

Mazzo added his investigation continues.

The eight surviving horses have been seized "in place," according to SPCA Executive Director Vivki Mosgrove, meaning they continue living at the Lamoka Avenue farm.

The agency will continue to monitor them while its case against Freeborn develops.

Six additional horses reside at the farm but show no signs of poor care.

Mazzo said Freeborn has provided sufficient food to the horses since the charges were filed, and if the veterinary report confirms the horses were suffering from parasites, Freeborn may be allowed to keep them on the property. However, Mazzo added, if the veterinary report indicates malnourishment, it's more likely the agency would consider removing them from the farm and distributing them to foster care providers.

"I'll look at the vet reports and see what comes up," Mazzo said. "If the report says there was not enough food, I'll be concerned for every horse there."

The animal cruelty investigator said Freeborn appeared to have treated the horses himself for parasites; the treatments, however, were not working. "Your obligation is to get a doctor and find out what's going on," he said. "That wasn't done."

Mazzo also said the general health of the eight horses was not as poor as as that of the horses seized in Troupsburg at the end of August. "They're not as thin," he said.

The SPCA removed all horses from the Troupsburg farm, and distributed them among foster care providers in Allegeny, Steuben and Livingston counties. The agency continues to carry the cost of caring for the surviving horses still in foster care.

To date, Mazzo said, the Savona animal neglect case has had no financial impact on the agency.

Source: Steuben Courier - Nov 9, 2008
Update posted on Nov 9, 2008 - 4:39PM

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References

WETM - Nov 2, 2008

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Horse neglectSavona, NY (US)

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Horse neglect
Savona, NY (US)