Constance Dirago, 59, of Plattekill, was sentenced Jan. 28 in Hamptonburgh Town Court after pleading guilty to five counts of animal cruelty arising from her neglect of more than 30 horses on a property she had been renting.
In addition to the probation, Dirago was ordered to make about $14,000 in restitution to an animal rescue agency that cared for the horses for the duration of the legal proceedings.
She also was ordered to “have no personal or professional contact with horses for the three years of her probationary term,” according to Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler.
On May 7, 2014, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said three horses died and five others were confiscated on March 28, 2014, shortly after Dirago began renting the farm. Dirago brought more than 30 horses to the property, and an investigation followed reports to police that many of the horses were underfed and malnourished and that three had died.
The five horses were removed and taken to a rescue sanctuary after they were found to be emaciated and near death, the District Attorney’s Office said. All of the remaining horses also were removed from the property and delivered to various farms in Orange and Ulster counties.
On May 17, just two weeks after the Orange County charges were lodged, Dirago was charged in Ulster County with 25 counts of failing to properly care for 16 horses on a farm at 89 Patura Road in Modena, a hamlet in the town of Plattekill.
After the May 17 arrest, an SPCA newsletter said the 16 Plattekill horses were “living in overcrowded conditions, many emaciated and suffering from untreated medical conditions, including mite infestations, dental problems, overgrown hooves and dehydration.”
Dirago pleaded guilty in July 2014 to three misdemeanor counts of failing to properly care for horses on the Modena farm. A plea agreement, reached in Plattekill Town Court on July 11, barred her from living with or caring for horses for one year and ordered her to pay court fees of $420, Ulster County SPCA Executive Director Adam Saunders said at the time.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Hoovler said: “Domesticated animals require and deserve care from the people that choose to keep them. ... I’m gratified to see that some measure of justice has been served on behalf of the horses involved in this case, and that the horses will be properly cared for in the future.”
(Daily Freeman - Feb 5, 2015)
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