7 cows, 1 bull, 1 horse seized from barn
Rathbone, NY (US)Incident Date: Thursday, Dec 8, 2005
County: Steuben
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Randy Brooks
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
On December 8, 2005, Farm Sanctuary opened its barn doors last week to eight cows and one horse after the Finger Lakes Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals seized the animals from a farm in Rathbone.
The animals - seven cows, one bull and a horse - were found tethered to stanchions in the barn amid manure piles up to 6 feet high, according to a news release from Farm Sanctuary.
"The stalls housing the cattle appear to have never been cleaned or extricated of the animals' manure," Harold Brown, Farm Sanctuary's outreach coordinator stated in the news release. "That someone could have kept these innocent animals tethered their entire lives and in these kinds of living conditions is beyond human comprehension." The animals' movement was limited to a few inches.
Farm Sanctuary, a farm animal shelter near Watkins Glen, first learned about the case when Scott Mazzo, Finger Lakes SPCA's humane officer, called the sanctuary for assistance with the rescue. The cows will remain housed in the farm's Emergency Rescue and Rehabilitation Center until their physical conditions are assessed and stabilized by veterinarians and shelter caregivers. The horse was transported to a Farm Sanctuary foster home.
Of the animals seized, one of the cows' hipbones was exposed through the skin and the wound was infected. The animals' hooves are overgrown, with the bull's hooves over a foot long. The Rathbone property owner also housed two pigs in a makeshift barn, but those pigs were sold prior to seizure and will be sent to slaughter. One hen house existed on the property with no signs of life, only decomposing carcasses and bones.
Cruelty charges are pending against the property owner.
Case UpdatesRandy Brooks, 49, of Rathbone, has been charged with animal cruelty, according to the Finger Lakes Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
On March 21, 2006, an animal cruelty investigator charged Brooks with two counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty for allegedly failing to provide necessary medical and hoof care for his animals, the SPCA said. The charges stem from an investigation at the end of 2005 in which a tethered bull was found with very overgrown hooves and an injured cow was found standing in manure several feet high, the SPCA said.
The animals were removed in December 2005 through a court-ordered seizure, the SPCA said. Also removed were six other cows that were very thin, in need of hoof trimming and also living in unsanitary conditions, as well as one thin horse, the SPCA said.
Brooks is to appear at 7 p.m. March 27, 2006 in Rathbone Town Court to respond to the charges, the SPCA said. | Source: Star Gazette News - March 24, 2006
Update posted on Mar 24, 2006 - 11:38PM |
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