Owner: "People are going to watch this and say I'm a horrible person"

OHIO -- Twenty-four horses, two mini ponies and two donkeys were surrendered in Medina County on Thursday afternoon.

The Medina County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals took custody of the animals, from seven acres of pasture at a home at 3835 Blake Road. The organization received an anonymous tip about the conditions.

SPCA Executive Director Stephanie Moore says they tried for years (since 2009) to work with the owner, but decided this week to remove the animals from the property.

"They're not horribly emaciated, but they are thin. Their feet are in bad shape.  Some of the babies and mothers have what appears to be malnourishment," Moore said.

Moore says, over the last month, the Medina SPCA has had three cases of horses that have died because of malnourishment.

The horses taken from Blake Road on Thursday will be individually examined by a vet, and placed in the care of the SPCA.

"You educate and educate and advocate, and continue to do that sort of thing over and over. Then there just comes a time when you realize it's not working. You need to take some action for the well-being of the horses," said Moore.

The owner of the horses told WKYC she tried to care for the animals, but said she simply had too many.

"They have never, never not had hay. They've always had grain. Grain and special minerals. I've paid hundreds of dollars for special minerals. They were never, never malnourished. If they were malnourished, it is because there were several bales of hay that weren't in as good of condition as I'd like," said Tori Wilfred.

The price of hay has skyrocketed in the last year. Wilfred says, she's also faced a personal challenge at home, of caring for her ailing grandmother. 

“My grandmother fell and broke her hip and I suddenly became a 24/7 caregiver and at that point, we knew no matter what, it was gonna be too much and we knew we wanted to get them sold; but it was just a matter of time,” said Wilfred.

Wilfred says she was planning to put some of her horses up for sale this spring.

"The bad thing is, people are going to watch this and say I'm a horrible person, and you let those horses be malnourished.

But it was never that situation," Wilfred said.

Moore said they also took six cats from the home that tested positive for feline leukemia.

[Funny how Tori Wilfred complains to Fox8 that "I never wanted this many", but she lists herself on the internet as a "Morgan horse breeder". Puppy mill, horse mill. It's the same thing.]

( WKYC - Apr 12, 2013)

Harrisburg area horse breeder found guilty on 30 counts of cruelty

PENNSYLVANIA -- A Harrisburg area horse breeder was found guilty today on 30 counts of animal cruelty after two hours of graphic testimony by veterinarians who examined the horses.

Magisterial District Judge Lowell Witmer issued a swift verdict against Rebecca Roberts, a Palmyra attorney and Morgan horse breeder, finding her guilty on all counts involving 29 horses that were seized from her farm four months ago and one found dead among them. 

 

"I'm just stunned," he said after hearing testimony from three veterinarians and viewing scores of pictures showing filthy, dangerous conditions in which the sick, wounded and malnourished horses were found and of the carcasses and skeletal remains of six other horses on the property.

Witmer said he would not sentence Roberts to jail because "something is very wrong," clearly indicating he felt she had a psychological issue that needed to be addressed,

He ordered her to pay $27,638 in restitution to cover the cost of care of the horses. Witmer forbid her from owning or having contact with any animals for seven years and five months and issued a $22,500 fine ($750 per count).

Amy Kaunas, executive director of Humane Society of Harrisburg Area, said she was pleased with the judge's decision, but added with an appeal likely, the case is "far from over."

Roberts' attorney, Eric Winter, argued that the humane society failed to follow proper procedure, didn't identify his client as the one responsible for the horses and said they did not prove beyond reasonable doubt that the horses were neglected to the point of facing "imminent death."

Humane Society police officer William Sandstrom said that the horses were all suffering the effects of long term neglect.

"Each and every one of the horses had something that required veterinary care, problems that were easily treatable," he said.

Sandstrom testified that the horses were denied basic food, shelter and vet care. They were kept in a fenced-in area covered knee deep in mud and manure, with no food visible or clean water and a run-in shed on verge of collapse.

He said Roberts had allowed stallions and mares and young and old horses to live together and fight for what little forage there was creating a "survival of the fittest" under horrific conditions.

When he issued a warning to Roberts in person in December about the need to provide immediate care for her animals she told him the horses were "wild" and didn't need vet care.

Sandstrom returned a week later to check on a horse called Holly that he had ordered to be seen by a vet only to find her body in the field. That's when officials obtained the first of two search warrants to remove the horses.

Veterinarian Kathryn Papp said the five of the most seriously ill horses removed in the initial raid in late December were emaciated and suffering from untreated wounds that left one horse  barely able to stand. The remaining horses were removed Jan. 15 after Roberts failed to respond to demands that she provide adequate care.

"People were sinking up to their crotch in mud," recalled Robert Kraybill, a veterinarian who assisted in rounding up the horses."I saw two carcasses under a tarp and skeletal remains in the field."

Veterinarians said all of the horses were suffering from an array of maladies stemming from neglect, including parasite infestation, anemia, overgrown hooves, lameness, skin disease and infected wounds.

One pregnant mare, called Big Momma, who was rescued, gave birth to a stillborn foal weeks later and then bled to death, the result of malnutrition or infection or both, said Papp.

A second foal was still born at Gentle Giants Draft Horse Rescue in Mt. Airy, Md., which took in 21 of the horses, most of them so wild they were unable to be handled for weeks.

Three other mares are expecting foals.

Winter said he has petitioned Dauphin County Court for the return of the horses and  that he will appeal the restitution and likely the guilty ruling as well..

"We're fairly certain we will appeal," he said.

For Gentle Giants rescue and a number of foster homes that took in horses, that means at least another several months, if not significantly longer, of shouldering the burden of care for the animals and that much longer for them to find permanent homes.

(Philly.com - April 10, 2013)

Earlier:

• Five dead horses, five other horses near-starved discovered on Palmyra farm
• Owner charged for malnourished horses at East Hanover farm

Owner charged for malnourished horses at East Hanover farm

PENNSYLVANIA -- The Humane Society of Harrisburg Area said it has filed charges against the owner of a Dauphin County farm where the agency seized five extremely malnourished horses last week.

Rebecca L. Roberts faces six counts of cruelty to animals; five for each of the horses seized from her property in the 700 block of Laudermilch Road in East Hanover Township and an additional count for a horse that died after Rebecca Roberts was given a written warning last month, according to Humane Society executive director Amy Kaunas.

Kaunas has said about 30 horses were being kept on the farm. She said the five animals seized last Friday were in the worst condition and in need of immediate veterinary care.

She said the Humane Society also found four dead animals that are believed to be horses, but are so badly decomposed that necropsies cannot be performed to determine the cause of the deaths.

Kaunas said Roberts failed to respond to warnings to get veterinary care for the animals. She said the Humane Society is checking on the horses that remain on the farm to make sure they are getting proper care.

(WHTM - Jan 4, 2013)

Earlier:

• Five dead horses, five other horses near-starved discovered on Palmyra farm

Five dead horses, five other horses near-starved discovered on Palmyra farm

PENNSYLVANIA -- At least five dead horses were discovered at a Palmyra farm Friday, and five others near the point of starvation were removed by the Humane Society of Harrisburg Area in a case Humane Society officials say may be a case of "horse hoarding."

"I've never seen anything like it," said HSHA executive director Amy Kaunas of conditions on the Laudermilch Road property of Rebecca L. Roberts.

Roberts, an attorney, did not immediately return messages left for her.

Kaunas said 24 horses remain on the property, and an investigation is ongoing and charges are pending. Kaunas said "extreme unsanitary conditions" were exacerbated by lack of food and adequate sources of water.

Humane Society officials removed the five horses in the worst condition after serving a search warrant Friday. The warrant signed by Magisterial District Judge Lowell A. Witmer was obtained after Roberts failed to respond to warnings to get veterinary care for the animals and after a humane officer saw one of the horses dead in an open barn Friday morning.

Kaunas said when they entered the property Friday evening, they discovered the remains of at least four other horses in varying stages of decomposition.

Kaunas said the volume of manure and other factors indicated "this has not been a good situation for quite some time."

"This is going to be a long and ongoing case," she said.

The five horses removed from the property have received a veterinary assessment, and "our focus right now is really helping these five horses survive into the new year," Kaunas said. The five horses, she said, were "teetering on the brink" with body condition scores of 1 on a scale of 9.

The 24 horses remaining on the farm have scores of 2 or 3.

"I don't think there was a horse higher than a 3," Kaunas said. "We have the ones in immediate danger and in need of immediate veterinary care."

Kaunas said "a lot of signs in this case" lead humane officers to suspect it's "a hoarding situation with horses. This could be a horse hoarder." It's a situation, she said, more often seen with cats.
She said the horses appear to be Morgans or Morgan crosses.

Kaunas said the Humane Society is open to working with Roberts to improve the care of the remaining horses, "but we will do what we can to ensure these horses are properly cared for."

(Penn Live - Dec 12, 2012)