New York Takes Over Paragallo’s Horse Farm

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

Source: NY Times

The state police and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals took over the farm of the prominent New York thoroughbred breeder and owner Ernie Paragallo on Wednesday, saying he had neglected more than 170 horses under his care.

Multiple charges of animal cruelty are pending against Paragallo in Greene County; each count carries a punishment of up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

The police entered Paragallo’s Center Brook Farm in Climax, N.Y., at about 11 a.m. with two veterinarians, said Ron Perez, president of the Humane Society/S.P.C.A. for Columbia and Greene Counties.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/09/sports/othersports/09horses.html

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He has not been to the farm for 8-9 months, duped by unfaithful workers? or a systemic scumbag?

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Are they mutually exclusive?

[flvegan]

2. K&R for the horses.

Thanks for posting.

[Doremus]

3. Sounds like the guy is out of $$$.

If so, why didn't he have the cajones to get the horses into better quarters and close shop?

You gotta hate a person that would ignore such suffering. :mad:

[Muttocracy]

4. good - read the story about the starved horses earlier this week - awful :(

[rpannier]

5. duped by unfaithful workers? or a systemic scumbag

Yes

[bklyncowgirl]

6. He's now under arrest--Good--I hope he spends a good long time a a guest of the state.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/11/sports/othersports/11horses.html?_r=1&ref=sports

I've been following this in the racing and equestrian blogs.

It seems that this guy's a major leage scumbag. He's done this in the past--according to the NYT one of his horses turned up in seriously bad condition a few years back. The racing authoriies pulled his license because he has a habit of failing to pay his bills. No problem, he just put the horses in his daughters' names and was allowed to go on his merry way. He had a horse in the Wood Memorial last week which finished up the track. No doubt the racing authorities would have preferred to look the other way but when the Times ran with it they had to act and to give them credit they've done the right thing--so far. Regardless of whether or not he's convicted, Paragallo and any mamber of his family are now forbidden to race horses in New York. Hopefully other states will follow suit.

This has nothing to do with the economy. The guy's no pauper. He owns half of leading stallion Unbridled's Song which stands for over $100,000 a mating. At 100 mares or so a year you do the math.

This also isn't a case of some poor struggling farm owner having to part with some beloved horses to keep his operation afloat. The SPCA agent described his operation as a "puppy mill" for horses. He bred pretty much indiscriminately, kept the good ones and just got rid of the culls. This time some of the horses were in such bad shape that they couldn't survive the trip to the slaughterhouse in Canada. They stayed at the auction where a local hunter jumper trainer who specializes in Thoroughbreds bought a couple of the mares and called in the rescues. One of the rescue people actually drove some of the horses to the State Police to get them to sit up and take notice. Another did some research and found out who the owner of record was. She sent the information to the Paulick Report, a racing blog and that set the ball rolling.

The workers on the farm were pretty much all illegal immigrants with little or no English. The SPCA seems to feel that they did what they could. Paragallo seldom set foot on the place. He claimes to have bills for feed and hay but apparently most of it never made it to the horses. My theory is that he bought the feed in order to claim it as an operating expense on his tax returns and resold it under the table. His feed bills should make interesting reading for some IRS agent.

Here's some pictures from the rescue. Mind you these horses did spend a couple of weeks being fed at the dealer's in order to get them strong enough to ship to the slaughterhouse. They looked worse. http://www.ac4h.com/TBHelpNeeded.htm What's particularly sad are pictures of them in thier racing days compared to the wrecks they are now.

[Tansy_Gold]

7. If he could, I'm sure Arthur Thompson would reach out from the grave to strangle

this POS.


Thompson was a one-time jockey who bought a small farm/ranch near Palatine, Illinois in the 1960s. There he brought former race horses he "rescued" from Arlington Park Race Track when their owners deemed them unfit for racing.

I used to go riding with a couple of girl friends there when I was in high school.

Thompson and his little stable were profiled on Lloyd Dobyns and Linda Ellerbee's "Overnight" show in the early 80s.




Tansy Gold

[bklyncowgirl]

8. Sounds like a great place--hope someone else has taken it over

There are quite a few rescues for ex race horses and of course caring owners and trainers who do the right thing for their animals all without publicity or fanfare. For others it's a business and for some of those for whom it's a business ethical standards need not apply whether they're dealing with humans or horses.

This guy Paragallo has been given the wink and the nod from the racing authorities for years. Yeah they yanked his owner's licence because he didn't pay his bills and some big players got scorched--no problem--he just put the horses in his daughters' name and he was able to carry on without a hitch. Sure there was a matter of a starved horse belonging to him that turned up at an auction and was bought by a rescue organization. Hey these things happen--besides--he claimed he gave the horse away. If these animals hadn't been in such horrible shape that the killer buyer was afraid that half of them would be dead before they got to the slaughterhouse and he'd take a loss, this could have gone unnoticed also.

This time the authorities couldn't look the other way. Horse racing is it's own worst enemy. The trainer for one of the Kentucky Derby favorites was caught with a syringe and come broncho dilator in the detention barn before a race. Guy has numerous drug violations on his record. Claimed ignorance of the rules of course. Most likely he'll get off with a slappy poo on the wrist and be back in action for the Derby.

My big hope for Paragallo is that he'll end up with a horse loving cell mate who was an ex rodeo cowboy with serious aggression problems. A girl can dream.

[Tansy_Gold]

9. I've been unable to find out much regarding the fate of

Thompson's farm.

chicago sun times archives has two articles about him, a holiday profile from 12/88, and an obituary from 1995. I just don't feel like paying $6 to get reprints.

I remember seeing the profile on Overnight. He was a character who loved the horses and loved letting the suburban kids have a chance to be around them. I don't think he ever lacked for help caring for them.



TG