Aurora horse farm owner Beth Lynne Hoskins was arraigned Wednesday in Aurora Town Court on her 125th count of animal cruelty, after a veterinarian who worked for her came forward saying a horse had to be euthanized on the farm last year due to neglect.
A hundred and twenty-five counts of animal cruelty and we're still giving her her animals back.
The veterinarian went further, blasting the "severely unsanitary and inhumane" conditions on the farm.
"Beth Hoskins should not be allowed to own any animals due to the fact that she is completely unable to provide even the most basic standard of care for them," Katherine Fitzgerald of Springville Veterinary Associates said in a deposition.
In the deposition taken Tuesday, Fitzgerald said she got a call from Hoskins on Nov. 26, 2009 -- Thanksgiving Day -- about a horse with an eye injury. When Fitzgerald arrived, Hoskins told her that another horse, Misty, was on the ground in another barn and unable to get up.
Misty was so weak that she could not raise her head, even after the veterinarian tried to help several times, Fitzgerald said.
"This horse has been neglected, left in unsanitary, unhealthful conditions, left without food, water, proper medical treatment and care to the point of severe emaciation and the need for immediate euthanasia to end her suffering," Fitzgerald said in her deposition.
Outside the courtroom, Hoskins' lawyers, Barry N. Covert and George V.C. Muscato, questioned why the veterinarian waited so long to come forward with her concerns, especially after the much-publicized seizure of more than 70 horses from Hoskins in March.
"Are you kidding me -- nine months later, she's claiming something happened? This is the bottom of the barrel, as far as we're concerned," Muscato said. "The medical records we've seen certainly don't support this."
This is the first charge against Hoskins involving an animal that died. Until Wednesday, all of Hoskins' charges involved horses and cats the SPCA Serving Erie County seized in March.
Hoskins said the day Misty was euthanized was "the saddest day of my life." She attributed the horse's condition to old age -- the horse was about 25 years old -- and complications from a hip injury the horse suffered before Hoskins bought it in 2004.
"It's sad, but it's part of the normal life cycle of horses," Hoskins said.
Barbara S. Carr, executive director of the SPCA, was quick to differ. "Just because you're old doesn't mean you're thin, dehydrated or weak," said Carr, who attended the court proceeding. "This animal suffered miserably and subsequently died. This is pretty damning -- from her own vet."
Fitzgerald said in her deposition that the horse Hoskins initially called her about last November, Electra, had an eye injury as much as a week old. Because the injury had gone untreated so long, she said, the horse had only minimal vision in that eye.
When she found Electra in the barn, Fitzgerald said, she had to struggle to open the stall door because the stall was filled with "several feet" of manure. The horse was rarely handled and had never been haltered or halter-broken, she said in the deposition. Hoskins was not able to touch the horse -- not an unusual situation on that farm, Fitzgerald said in her deposition.
"When dealing with Beth Hoskins and her horses for the past three years, it was apparent that she is unable to handle the majority of them, and she acts afraid of many of them. She is unable to care for the number of animals on her farm, and she insists on continuing to acquire more animals unnecessarily," the veterinarian said in the deposition.
Hoskins pleaded not guilty on Wednesday; she already has pleaded not guilty to the 10 animal cruelty counts that were filed against her in May and the 114 additional counts in July.
In March, the SPCA seized 73 horses and 53 cats from her farm. A house cat and a barn cat were returned to Hoskins, who signed away ownership of 41 of the cats. They have since been adopted. Of the remaining 10 cats, one died, Carr said. Hoskins has not tried to reclaim the other nine cats, Carr said.
Forty horses have been returned to Hoskins, by order of State Supreme Court Justice Joseph R. Glownia. The other 33 remain in the care of the SPCA, at a cost of $825 a day. The SPCA has spent $300,000 caring for Hoskins' horses, Carr said.
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