Horse neglect, one found near-death
South Bend, PA (US)Incident Date: Tuesday, Oct 26, 2010
County: Armstrong
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Raymond Rakowski
A South Bend Township man is to be cited after residents there said they saw a horse dying on his property earlier this week and alerted authorities.
Western Pennsylvania Humane Society chief humane officer Ronald Smith said he will cite Raymond Rakowski, of Oak Hill Road in the Girty area of South Bend, with failing to provide necessary veterinary care for the horse. Smith said he plans to file the citation in district court early next week.
"The horse should have been seen a long while back," Smith said. "The owner watched that horse deteriorate over a period of time. He assumed it was due to old age."
The animal was euthanized by a veterinarian Tuesday evening, both Smith and state police said.
The horse's condition came to light Tuesday afternoon when Barb Crissman of Girty and her sister notified state police and the Humane Society. Crissman said she saw the brown horse lying on its side in a grassy field along Oak Hill Road after being summoned to the location by her father.
While Crissman sat in a car with her husband, she said the horse put its face in hay that was lying next to it, but didn't eat.
"And then (it) just plopped back down like it was dying," she said.
Crissman took a few pictures of the horse that show a protruding spine and hay near it. She noticed a second horse in the field that Crissman described it as "not really, really skinny."
After returning to the spot with her sister later that afternoon, Crissman said, the pair talked to state police, the Humane Society official and a Ford City woman who helps with the rescue of large animals. On a final visit to the scene at about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Crissman said ,she saw a tarp covering the area where the horse had been.
Crissman expressed frustration with state police, who she said were initially reluctant to come to the scene.
East Franklin station commander Lt. Tom Dubovi said troopers spoke with the Humane Society and learned they didn't have an officer available. Sometime during Tuesday evening, state police spoke with the animal owner and a veterinarian put the horse down, Dubovi said.
Animal-related calls are typically referred to Humane Society enforcement officers, Dubovi said.
"We don't have the technical skill" to handle many animal cruelty cases, he said. Plus, the state police do not have the means to take care of a sick or dead animal like a Humane Society does, he said.
A Humane Society officer can request police presence or assistance, Dubovi said. While an emergency may be a different situation, troopers may see a potential animal emergency differently than one that involves humans.
State troopers are tasked with helping a person who is in danger or distress, Dubovi said, adding that animals rank lower in the hierarchy.
"Life safety of people is priority," he said.
Smith began investigating Crissman's claims Wednesday and left a notice on Rakowski's door to determine whether the horse had been seen by a veterinarian prior to when it was euthanized Tuesday. He later heard from Rakowksi that the horse had not received veterinary care recently.
"The ultimate responsibility is the owner's," he said.
Smith said he had contact with the horse owner in December 2009 when two horses on his property did not have shelter. Smith was not sure if the horses he saw then were the same as those on his property this week.
The owner was not cited then, but asked to erect shelter for the animals, Smith said.
If someone wants to file an animal-related complaint, they can contact the Humane Society, Smith said, but in an emergency a caller can be referred to local police authorities. Because there is not a Humane Society in Armstrong County, the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society in Pittsburgh volunteers its services, he said.
If a situation is not an emergency, a humane officer can report usually within 24 hours, he said. In this case, Crissman was referred to the state police, where Smith said a trooper was reluctant to send someone to the scene.
Smith said the other horse on the property "didn't look that bad" and had hay and water available.
Crissman said she got involved with authorities because she loves animals.
"I don't care if it's an animal, a child, a human, I don't care if it's a wild animal, everything needs to be taken care of in the right manner," she said. References |
