Massena man whose dog died at state fair owned a foal that died in June

NEW YORK -- A foal that died in June was in the care of a Massena man whose dog died Monday after being left unattended in the man's car at the state fair.

The man, Patrick J. Oneill (also referred to as Patrick J. O'Neill), 66, of 326 Haverstock Road, is also scheduled to face charges in court this month that he neglected 22 horses. Those charges are unrelated to the foal's death.

Oneill left his 2-year-old black Labrador Ali in his car for four hours Monday, state police said. Temperatures in the car reached almost 100 degrees and one window was open only slightly, according to Trooper Jack Keller.

After troopers were called to the Red Cross parking lot at about 2 p.m., they saw Oneill standing over the female dog. The dog was having a seizure and later died, Keller said.

Oneill brought the dog to the fair Monday because she loves long rides, his lawyer Mary Rain said. Rain said Oneill left ice water in his car for the dog.

"(Oneill's) just devastated," Rain said. "Nobody's more upset over the loss."

Oneill got the "appropriately spoiled" puppy around the same time his companion died of cancer, Rain said. When Oneill's partner died, she left him with her 12 horses -- giving the 66-year-old man 25 horses to maintain, Rain said.

Oneill was in over his head trying to care for that many horses, said Heidi Bradish, director of the Massena Humane Society.

Bradish agreed that Oneill is a well-intentioned animal lover, saying that the dog, for instance, "was always right by his side [and] followed him around like his shadow." But she said that does not excuse a pattern of not properly caring for his animals.

In May, state police found 22 horses injured, infected with parasites or otherwise sick on Oneill's property, Bradish said. He was charged with 22 counts of animal cruelty.

Rain argued that the animal cruelty charges from May are overblown. She said Oneill is a lifelong horseman facing unfair accusations in part because police believed an unreliable witness. None of the horses were ever in danger, she said.

Bradish said that is untrue. Not only were the horses found at risk because of Oneill's failures as a pet owner, but he was also responsible for the death of a foal shortly after his arrest, she said.

In early June, neighbors began complaining that Oneill was letting his stallions loose in the same area as his foals, Bradish said. The Massena Humane Society and state police went to O'Neill's house and warned him that he had to move the foals immediately or they would be killed, Bradish said.

One day later, a foal was found dead on Oneill's property, Bradish said.

"This is an ongoing thing," Bradish said, adding that Oneill is unlikely to face charges for not moving his foals because he did not break a law. "It's very frustrating."

Rain said that the foal did not die because the stallions were on the loose but because it was trapped in a gully and got hypothermia.

Oneill will appear in Geddes Town Court on Sept. 16 on one misdemeanor count of animal cruelty in connection with the dog's death, state police said. He will be back in court on Sept. 25 in Massena on the charges involving the 22 horses. Those charges could result in a sentence of up to one year in jail.

(Syracuse.com - Sept 3 2013)