Richard Allison Laubach, 55, pleaded not guilty to the charges this week before Ravalli County Justice of the Peace Jim Bailey.
An affidavit filed in the case said Laubach’s tenant, Debora Lynn Lay, filed a report with the Ravalli County Sheriff’s Office that her Andalusian horse had been shot in the right front hoof by her landlord on May 29.
The injury fractured the navicular bone and shattered the short pastern bone.
Lay owns and operates Lazy D Equine Services and specializes in natural hoof care.
At the time of the alleged shooting, she lived in an apartment owned by Laubach on Meadow Road. Laubach lives in an adjacent house on the five-acre parcel, where he raises miniature horses.
Lay told a deputy that she was in her apartment May 25 when she heard a gunshot, followed by a second shot. She recognized the sound as a .22 caliber rifle.
She often heard her landlord shooting at rabbits on his property, the affidavit said.
On the next morning, she went to the corrals to care for her horses. She found her Andalusian holding its right front leg off the ground, with blood running from the hoof.
When she checked the hoof, she noticed it was split.
Concerned that her horse may have been shot the night before, she contacted Laubach. He told her that he doubted the injury was from a bullet and so she began to treat the horse for an abscess.
Three days later, she had the hoof X-rayed, which showed a bullet had entered the hoof and caused a great deal of damage. Her veterinarian told her the bullet was still in the hoof and her horse would have to be put down. A second veterinarian said the bullet needed to be removed. He believed the horse would survive, but never ridden again.
The sheriff’s deputy met with Laubach and his girlfriend May 30 in the pasture.
Laubach told the deputy that he had a rabbit problem in his garden and so he shoots them with a .22 rifle. He said he had several rabbits in his freezer and had discarded the rest on his property.
Laubach admitted that he shot at a rabbit May 25, and that a bullet must have ricocheted off a rock and struck the horse’s hoof. He was apologetic and promised never to shoot on his property again.
Laubach showed the location where he had shot from that night. He explained that he placed the rifle barrel on the top rail of the fence surrounding his garden and shot toward the garden or hay shed.
The hay shed is located in the horse corral. Laubach said that’s where the rabbits always run to get away.
The shed is where Lay found her horse the next morning.
The affidavit said the location from where Laubach shot was in direct line of a neighboring home and the sidewalk that Lay uses to enter her apartment. The deputy noticed numerous bullet holes in the siding of the detached garage where his tenant lived.
He also noted there was a newly constructed home in the direct trajectory path within 350 feet of the shots that Laubach had described. There are eight homes within the same distance.
The deputy spoke to one of the neighbors, who reported hearing gunshots from Laubach’s property and finding a mounted light on his property had been shot out.
Laubach surrendered his rifle to the deputy.
Bailey released Laubach without bail. He is next scheduled to appear Sept. 3.
Lay reports that her horse is still struggling to recover.
“I never realized how much he participates in our daily training and other activities,” she said. “I am constantly saying to clients and students, ‘Well, if Dance were sound, I could demonstrate.’ ”
Lay said she’s also heard from a number of people saying they miss seeing her and her horse in local parades.
“I knew that part of our life was over, but it didn’t hit home until the parades actually started happening,” she said.
(Missoulian - Aug 5, 2015)
Name: Richard Allison Laubach
Sex: Male
Race: White
Age at arrest: 55
Booking date: 08/03/2015
Booked by: RAVALLI COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE
Charges:
- #1 Negligent Endangerment - STATUTE: 45-5-208 ( M)
- #2 Cruelty To Animals - STATUTE: 45-8-211(2)(a)[1st] (1 M)
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