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Case Details
Case Snapshot
Case ID: 15421
Classification: Neglect / Abandonment
Animal: horse
More cases in Greene County, NY
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Horse neglect alleged - 117 seized
Climax, NY (US)

Incident Date: Wednesday, Apr 8, 2009
County: Greene

Disposition: Alleged
Case Images: 2 files available

Alleged: Ernie Paragallo

Upcoming Court Dates:
» Monday, Apr 20, 2009

Case Updates: 2 update(s) available

After receiving a report of neglected horses at a Greene County horse farm, State Police executed a search warrant and removed 177 horses they said were malnourished.

State Police raided the Center Brook Horse Farm in Coxsackie which is owned by thoroughbred breeder Ernie Paragallo, 51. Paragallo, who lost his owner's license in 2005 for financial instability, has not yet been charged in the case.

Ron Perez, president of the Columbia-Greene Humane Society said that 40 of the horses were the victims of "extreme cruelty".

The State Police were assisted in the raid by the state Racing and Wagering Board, the ASPCA and the Columbia-Greene Humane Society.

Volunteer veterinarians with the ASPCA were on scene to evaluate the 177 horses that were located on the property. All showed varying stages of malnutrition, police said. In addition to being malnourished, the horses also lacked proper veterinarian care, vaccinations, and proper shelter. The animals were seized and will remain on the farm under the supervision and care of the ASPCA while the investigation continues.

The ASPCA requests that anyone wishing to make a donation for the care of the horses contact the Columbia Greene Humane Society at 518-828-6044 or www.cghs.org.

Paragllo is scheduled to meet with state police investigators and the Racing and Wagering Board.


Case Updates

The Daily News has obtained the first grim images from Center Brook Farm in upstate New York, detailing the horrid conditions and neglect suffered by horses there.

The farm, raided on Wednesday by the New York State Police and the Columbia-Greene Humane Society/SPCA, found 177 horses infested with lice and starving to death.

The startling discovery led to the arrest on Friday of breeder Ernie Paragallo, who is free on bail, facing 22 counts of animal cruelty - failure to provide proper sustenance. Each count carries up to a year in jail and/or a $1,000 fine.

Paragallo, 51, turned 67 of the horses to the CGHS for adoption. Those horses are currently being fed, de-liced and wormed by CGHS officials.

Paragallo is expected to return to court on April 20.

For information on adopting the horses or donating money, you can contact the CGHS at (518) 828-6044 or send checks to 125 Humane Society Rd., Hudson, N.Y. 12534.
Source: NY Daily News - April 13, 2009
Update posted on Apr 13, 2009 - 9:38AM 
The state police and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals took over the farm of the prominent New York thoroughbred breeder and owner Ernie Paragallo on Wednesday, saying he had neglected more than 170 horses under his care.

Since 1996, Ernie Paragallo's family-owned Paraneck Stable has been among the nation's leading racing outfits.

Multiple charges of animal cruelty are pending against Paragallo in Greene County; each count carries a punishment of up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

The police entered Paragallo's Center Brook Farm in Climax, N.Y., about 11 a.m. with two veterinarians, said Ron Perez, president of the Humane Society/S.P.C.A. for Columbia and Greene Counties.

"Veterinarians looked at about 40 horses, and all were in poor shape and several hundred pounds underweight," Perez said.

"It's really bad. It's the worst I've ever seen in a thoroughbred situation. The animals themselves are in horrific condition. It's a sad, sad scene."

Joe Mahoney, a spokesman for the New York State Racing & Wagering Board, which had an agent at the farm during the raid, said all of the horses — ages 1 to 20 years old — showed signs of various stages of malnutrition. In addition, according to Mahoney, the veterinarians on site said the horses had lacked proper veterinarian care, vaccinations and suitable shelter.

The care, rehabilitation and feeding of the horses on the farm now fall to Perez's group. Perez described the horses as showing bones and being parasitic with skin infections and untreated injuries to their eyes and feet.

Perez said there was some food on the farm, but not enough for that many horses. His group ordered 500 small bales and 20 larger round bales of hay that will be delivered Thursday, Perez said.

Bedding was also ordered for the 25 mares on the farm who are in foal.

"That will get us through a few days — it's going to cost us a fortune to get these horses back in shape," Perez said.

Paragallo was not at the farm during the surprise raid. When reached by telephone Wednesday, he said he had not been to the farm in eight or nine months. "I'm negligent for not being there," he said. "But I thought I was providing for them."

He said he had spoken to a state police officer Wednesday and would meet with the police on his farm Friday. "I know the horses were fed," he said. "I don't know what they constitute animal cruelty. I hope they are being fed because I've got the bills and I know I'm paying for it."

Perez said he did not know when the cruelty charges would be filed.

"Our first priority is taking care of these horses," he said.

Meanwhile, Colleen Segarra, who removed two horses from the farm Saturday and filed a police complaint Wednesday about the dire condition of other horses on the farm, went to a Cornell University veterinary center for emergency treatment with one of those horses now in her care.

The horse, a colt who will be 1 year old on April 28, weighed 364 pounds, or nearly half the normal weight for a yearling.

"He is in very, very bad shape and may not make it past today," said Segarra, a member of Equine Rescue Resource, which is caring for the yearling as well as his mother, who was also taken off the farm Saturday.

The New York State Racing & Wagering Board has also opened an investigation of Paragallo. On Tuesday the board issued a subpoena that will require Paragallo, a licensed authorized agent in New York who is associated with Paraneck Stable, to answer questions about the care of his horses.

Since 1996, Paragallo's family-owned Paraneck Stable has been among the nation's leading racing outfits, starting 4,686 runners who have earned $20.6 million in purses. He owns half of the stallion Unbridled's Song, who commands a $125,000 stud fee in Kentucky.

The Jockey Club released a statement Wednesday saying that it supported the investigations and that it would not recognize any of Paragallo's horses if he is found guilty of animal cruelty, which would effectively end his career as a thoroughbred owner and breeder.

In the past week, several individuals and rescue groups have shed light on the poor condition of horses under his care. Last month, four undernourished and neglected former racehorses belonging to Paragallo were rescued from a New York kill pen en route to slaughter.

They were among more than 20 horses from Paragallo's farm that were sold to slaughter for $680. A horse transporter, Richie Baiardi, said that he had picked them up at Paragallo's farm at the end of February with the intention of taking them to Florida but could not because they were "bags of bones, literally walking hides," and would not have survived the trip.

All four mares are being rehabilitated by Another Chance 4 Horses, a rescue group, at its farm in Bernville, Pa. Three other mares are recovering at a boarding and training center in Fulton, N.Y., operated by Lisa Leogrande, who discovered the horses in the kill pen.
Source: NY Times - April 9, 2009
Update posted on Apr 13, 2009 - 9:40AM 

References

  • - April 11, 2009
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