Equine Abuse & Neglect

Abusing, neglecting, and abandoning an equine or any other animal is against the law. Caring officials who are committed to enforcing cruelty laws are essential to making sure that those who illegally transport, starve, abuse, and/or abandon an equine are charged with animal cruelty. It is also necessary that average citizens who witness animal abuse come forward and file a formal complaint. For some people, it takes a lot of courage to take the initiative and report incidents of animal cruelty, but by doing so, suffering and death can be prevented. And in the end, you will be able to feel good about the fact that you took action and did the right thing. In New York State, police officers and state troopers are required by law to respond to animal cruelty complaints.

When cruelty laws are not enforced, horses suffer.

Following are three abuse/neglect cases where law enforcement was needed to take action:

1. Marty, Beau, and Clive were seized by police and placed under Equine Advocates’ care. Their former owner was eventually charged with animal cruelty and pled guilty. The horses, who had been living in squalor and required medical attention, were given a permanent home at Equine Advocates Rescue & Sanctuary. (Sadly, Marty passed away in 2017 and Clive passed away in 2022.)

2. Equine Advocates rescued three emaciated and badly neglected Thoroughbreds at Ernie Paragallo’s Center Brook Farm in Greene County, New York, which is just south of Albany. The horses remained in the hospital for 37 days. The three Thoroughbreds that Equine Advocates rescued on that frigid winter day, Mikey (formerly Break the Clock), Arnold (formerly Cluster Bomb), and D.A. (thought to be Pass the Pie), have since been written about in a New York Times article and had their stories told on a CBS affiliate in Albany. (Sadly, Mikey passed away in 2023.)

Although Paragallo was finally charged with numerous counts of animal cruelty, that did not happen until more than two years later after a chain of events occurred that finally motivated the authorities to take action against him. Reports that more of his badly neglected and emaciated horses were rescued as they were being shipped to Canada for slaughter started hitting the news. By the time the authorities finally raided Center Brook Farm, a total of 177 horses were found suffering from varying degrees of emaciation and neglect. Some were in such bad conditions that they had to be humanely euthanized.

Mikey, D.A., and Arnold when rescued (top) and at our sanctuary (bottom)

Specially formed task forces on animal cruelty could effectively assist law enforcement with equine abuse cases.

3.  Equine Advocates accompanied the Special Rensselaer County Task Force on Animal Cruelty on a raid where two horses, Jeremy & Nick, were seized. Jeremy is seen here outside an equine hospital where he and Nick were taken right after they were seized by New York State troopers and police.