Horse neglect - 4 dead Stewartsville, NJ (US) Incident Date: Wednesday, Dec 28, 2005 County: Warren Local Map: available Disposition: Alleged Alleged: Kwok C Tom Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

Case ID: 7530 Classification: Neglect / Abandonment Animal: horse View more cases in NJ (US) Login to Watch this Case

A bitterly cold wind raced across the lower pasture as five of six surviving horses kept to low ground in a hopeless effort to duck the furious easterly gusts.

Four horses including a foal have already perished in this bleak setting of untamed brush, water buckets filled with ice and empty feed buckets, court records show.

A single horse is kept farther uphill in what once was and now faintly resembles a paddock. The farm's smattering of horse barns lay empty as the horses spend the wintry days and nights in the open.

Owner K.C. Tom, 54, said fencing problems caused by vandalism prevent him from keeping his horses in the redwood barns and the cozy stalls inside.

Twice jailed after convictions for animal cruelty, Tom is again scheduled to appear in the township's municipal court at 1:30 p.m. on March 6.

It began in 2004 when a mare was put down after a halter became embedded in its skin, causing gangrene, records show.

Next a foal was found dead in the pasture after vultures had torn the meat from its bones.

"He didn't even bother to bury it," one official said.

A stallion turned up dead on a neighbor's property last year. Tom said he found it on the ground and it appeared to be choking.

He said he ran to call a veterinarian but the horse was dead when he returned.

The latest casualty came earlier last week when a stallion apparently stepped in a sink hole in the pasture and broke a leg. Records show the animal was destroyed.

Photographs taken at the farm and used as evidence in the past depict a horse with its ribs clearly visible and sinkholes in the pasture.

Records also show one of Tom's horses had a protruding spine and ulcerations on its muzzle.

And the descriptions recorded in municipal court records go on: a horse with poor muscle conditions, another with a poor to fair coat, a stallion with poor muscle tone and a protruding spine and a foal with a poor coat.

An investigator also saw a frozen water bucket and a horse trying to break through the ice for a drink, records show.

One official said the problems began years ago when neighbors noticed the horses were thin and the owner never removed painful brambles attached to them.

Tom said he plans to sell the South Main Street farm and take his horses with him to Pennsylvania.

Municipal Court Judge Joseph Steinhardt has issued orders allowing the township's animal control officer to go to the farm and look after the horses.

Township officials have helped out by purchasing feed and many of the horses appeared in better shape Friday thanks to those measures.

The judge has also ordered Tom to sell the horses and an appraisal of the horses' worth will be presented to him in court Monday. Officials said he then has the right to obtain his own appraisal.

An animal cruelty charge is also pending and so is an order by Animal Control Officer Amanda Wojcik requiring Tom to give up possession of the horses.

Township officials credit Wojcik with saving the lives of the remaining horses.

Sitting in his sparsely furnished home as cats came in and out of the old farmhouse, Tom said he became interested in raising horses almost 20 years ago.

"They want me to get rid of horses," he said. "I don't mistreat horses. I like horses."

In 2004, Tom was sentenced to 30 days of community service and $1,055 in fines and court costs after an animal cruelty conviction He appealed the conviction and lost, court records show.

He later spent seven days in the Warren County jail for failing to complete the community service, records show.

A 2004 animal cruelty conviction netted him $408 in fines and costs.

Last year, authorities charged him with two counts of animal cruelty. One was dismissed as part of a plea bargain.

He was fined $364 and agreed to sell six of his then nine horses within 45 days. The deadline came and went on Dec. 6.

A warrant was issued for his arrest in late December and he was placed in the Warren County jail on $2,500 bail. He said he remained in jail until Feb. 3.

Wojcik cared for the horses during his absence, township officials said.

A walk through the lower field immediately draws the horses' attention and a visitor is soon surrounded by the friendly though dwindling herd.

Such things as camera cases or other items are immediately checked out by prying snouts.

The horses will escort you back up the hill toward Tom's house, sometimes close enough to brush up against you.

When you pass through the rope-tied gate, they will remain awhile to see you off. But only for a while, since the March winds are stronger up top.

Then the five horses will turn around and walk back down the hill, close to the fence along South Main Street just south of Stewartsville.

The fence is fairly close to the rural road. Just an apple's throw away, one might say.

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References

The Express-Times - March 5, 2006

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