Prominent Horseman Faces Questions About Neglect (graphic)

[Are_grits_groceries]

Four undernourished and neglected former racehorses belonging to Ernie Paragallo, a prominent New York thoroughbred breeder and owner, were rescued from a New York kill pen last month, one step from being slaughtered. They were among more than 20 horses from Paragallo’s Center Brook Farm in Climax, N.Y., that were sold to slaughter for $680.

The four mares were “hundreds of pounds” underweight, infested with lice and parasites and in “horrible condition,” according to Dr. James Holt, a Pennsylvania veterinarian who examined them.
<snip>
Paragallo said he could not remember the last name of the man he gave the horses to, his telephone number or his farm address. On Friday, however, a horse transporter, Richie Baiardi, said he had picked up the horses at Paragallo’s farm at the end of February with the intention of taking them to Florida but could not because of their poor condition.

Baiardi said that he subsequently called Paragallo, who was not at the farm at the time of the pickup, and complained about the horses’ condition. Baiardi, who said he was in North Dakota on Friday, said he had van logs, receipts and other documentation at his home in Florida to show that he had picked up the horses in February.

“They were a bag of bones, literally walking hides,” Baiardi said. “I knew I couldn’t get health certificates for them, and I didn’t even think they’d make it to Florida. I didn’t want to take them, but the guys working on the farm said if I didn’t they were just going to die right there. They told me, two had already died that morning.”

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

He is scum. There needs to be a lot more scrutiny of the thoroughbred industry.

[newfie11]

1. Reminds me of the 1980's

When the big Arabian horse farms went belly up. Many people with money went into breeding Arabs as a tax haven then the laws changed. The market died out and horses that had been worth $250,000 - half a million were found starving.
This is what happens when people buy animals only to make money but have no feeling or love for the animals.