New York: Tod Mishler, 80, who's accused of neglecting his horses launches into Roy Rogers song after rejecting plea deal in animal cruelty case

NEW YORK -- The unrepentant 80-year-old cowboy facing animal cruelty charges for neglecting his trusty steeds shot down a plea deal offered by the Staten Island District Attorney faster than Wild Bill Hickock during a brief appearance in criminal court on Wednesday.

Tod (Doc) Mishler, left, leaves a court appearance with lawyer
Arnold Levine after the horse owner pleaded not guilty to
mistreatment and cruelty to animals on Wednesday.
Photo: Joe Stephansky

Mishler’s attorney Arnold Levine quickly rejected the disorderly conduct plea offer, which would have set the senior free, but would “prohibit him from possessing horses in New York State” for two years.

"I don't know why they're taking such a hard line," Arnold said of the DA's offer after the court proceeding. "Maybe they're afraid of the politics of it and the various interest groups."

Mishler, wearing a cowboy hat and leather chaps over his jeans, wouldn’t speak about the case — instead entertaining reporters with a few bars from the classic Roy Rogers diddy “Happy Trails.”

The cowboy was arrested in late June after he trotted his exhausted, sore-ridden horses over the Outerbridge Crossing into Staten Island.

 

His horse, Hope II, who has been with the cowboy for a few years with “16,000 miles on her,” according to Mishler, had bloody open sores where she had been rubbed raw from her harness on both her neck and head, court records show.

Vets also found lameness in her right leg from an untreated infected injury.

His second steed, Charity II, was underweight and had oozing pressure sores on her torso, officials said.

Despite the horses’ deplorable conditions, Mishler said he had done nothing wrong.

“Animals were given to man by God for their use, but people have turned it into where they care more about animals than people,” Mishler told investigators at the time. “Horses are strong. When you baby them, they want to be lazy. If you keep pushing them, they’ll push through it.”

 

 

 

A Humane Society member who attended the court appearance hopes Mishler will never sit on a horse again.

“If (he) is found guilty, we urge that he be prohibited from possessing horses or any other animals," member Rachel Figueroa said.

(NY Daily News - Aug 10, 2016)

Earlier:

• New York: Tod Mishler, 80, who made the news when he rode his horse across a bridge in NYC has been charged with animal cruelty