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Case #5404 Rating: 3.0 out of 5
Horse starved
Bloomingburg, NY (US)Incident Date: Sunday, Jul 31, 2005
County: Sullivan
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Amy Sanner
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
A bone-thin horse left to starve by its owner is fighting for its life at a rescue farm in the Catskills region. The 15-year-old spotted horse, named Johnny, was found by neighbors after he broke free from a paddock after weeks of neglect.
Authorities are now looking for 29-year-old owner Amy Sanner, who was on probation for animal cruelty for starving another horse last year.
Police say Sanner faces a second charge of animal cruelty.
The Times-Herald Record in Middletown reports that Sanner was charged with animal cruelty after authorities responded to a downed horse at the home in 2004.
Investigators say the horse was starved to the point of death and wallowing in half a foot of mud and had to be put down.
Case UpdatesAmy Sanner can't own a horse for at least three years, but she also won't be going to jail for the near-fatal neglect of an equine companion last year.
Crawford Town Justice Michael Heckman rejected prosecutors' request last night for Sanner to spend several weekends in jail, sentencing her to three years' probation. She pleaded guilty July 11 to a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty to a horse named Johnny, who lived in a paddock at her home on Bible Camp Road.
Sanner, 29, pleaded guilty to the same charge in October 2004. That time, the horse died. When Sanner was charged with cruelty to Johnny last year, she was already on probation for the 2004 crime.
Sanner now lives in Walden with her two children. "I'll teach them how to ride," she said after court last night. "I'll never own a horse again, but I'll teach them how to ride."
Heckman banned Sanner from owning or caring for horses while she's on probation. He also ordered Sanner to repay Equine Rescue Inc. of Bloomingburg $3,300 for Johnny's rehab care.
Mike Broas, the president of Equine Rescue, left court feeling conflicted about the sentence.
On the one hand, he said, "I certainly don't want a woman who has two kids to be hurt."
On the other hand, Sanner was already on probation for neglecting one horse when she let Johnny (Sanner called him Freshy) nearly starve to death. So if Broas was the judge, weighing the impact of probation on Sanner, "I'd be saying to myself, 'It seems to me that this isn't really doing anything.'"
Sanner's lawyer, Bernard Brady, said that between taking care of her children and working for her husband's construction business, Sanner was overwhelmed by her responsibilities. | Source: Record Online - Sept 12, 2006
Update posted on Sep 12, 2006 - 7:54AM |
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