Jack Ziniuk

Yes, I planned to blog about horse racing today, but changed my mind. I'll do that another day. Like one where I'm not down because every horse I was rooting for last weekend lost.

So instead I'm going to talk about the guy who's case I've been watching the past couple weeks, but haven't reported on.

Well, I have news on that front, but it's not exactly good...

Story The man responsible for the cruel death of his horse was found dead on his property Thursday night. He was to stand trial in October allegedly beating a horse in the head with a sledgehammer. He was going to plead not guilty and according to him, he loved the horse and it was already dead.

The head was decapitated and fed to Ziniuk's dogs because he'd heard that horse meat was what dog food is made out of. To my knowledge, horse meat only goes into a very few brands of dog food these days. Most dog food does not contain horse meat anymore, though it did at some time.

Tidbits of News and Case Updates

I expected to begin this post with 'this is the unhappiest I've ever been to be right' but that would be a long post so I'll do that Monday. Plus I need some time to do some research and double-check on some things. So...today I'll be doing some tidbits of news that aren't long enough for a full-length post and check up on my abuse/neglect cases.

Keum H. Lee - Nothing. Her court date is still 19 days away so I'm not expecting much.

Gordon Dennis Key - News on this front! Story Key was not at his Wednesday hearing where his attorney worked out an agreement with the district attorney's office. Key agreed to donate his 77 horses to the Humane Society. Which apparently is one more than expected. Not entirely sure where that extra horse came from...you'd think they'd know how many horses were there and rescued. Key has ten days to bring all documentation for the horses to the court and pay $5,000 in court costs and the costs of the animals since they were seized.

"This is not a case where a person had a willful desire to not care for an animal or was being intentionally cruel," he said. "He had no employees left. It was just one man doing the best he could for 77 horses. It was just impossible.

"He is an honorable man, and he really did care about the animals."

Lots of people that neglect their animals really do care about them. Those hoarders you see on TV with a hundred cats running around their house care about them. But they're still at fault for having that many animals and letting it get out of hand. He had no employees left? What happened to them? This kind of thing doesn't just happen overnight. If you need help caring for 77 horses, hire someone or find a neighbor kid that can't afford a horse of his/her own. Someone like me for instance. If the horses are rideable, they'd probably do it for free in exchange for a chance to ride the horses or even just be around them.

Kim Dotson - Story Investigations are proceeding and Kim Dotson faces 37 counts of animal cruelty, a Class A misdemeanor punishable by one year in jail and $5,000 in fines. Now is that each or total? Fifteen of the horses have already been adopted out and seven are still looking for new homes.

Jack Ziniuk - Nothing here. Though according to my chart, his court date was three days ago.

Ernie Paragallo - Nothing here either. Not expecting much until October.

***

The Walking Horse Celebration is back and ready to crack down on those trainers that use soring as a way to get ahead. Story One question though...it says the first, second, and third place horses will be subject to pre- and post-performance inspections. So by 'pre-performance' do they mean that they're going to inspect all the horses there? Because how can you inspect the winning horse before the competition? Maybe they should do want horse racing does and inspect random horses in the field in addition to the top three.

A Colorado man threatened to kill his 24 horses in protest of zoning regulations which, according the story, have nothing to do with the horses. Story This man is sick! He should be in jail, the horses should be rescued (though I believe they have been), and he shouldn't be allowed to own an animal ever again. Though if he believes the zoning regulations would force him to leave the ranch, I'd like to know what the zoning regulations are.

And as for the Florida horse murders, the reward has been upped to $20,000 for information leading to an arrest and a new watch program unveiled.

"They come from the lowest ebb of society, they don't have any of our civilized notions. And I think everybody is aware of that," said Southwest Ranches resident Maryann Allen. "Thank God for my six gun, I'd shoot em."

Nineteen horses in southern Florida have been butchered for their meat which is sold illegally.

One Animal Neglect Case Resolved

Not one that I've been following and you can hardly call it resolved by any means...

Deaver woman gets probation, fines for animal cruelty charges

The crime? Starving over three dozen horses and excessively whipping another at a rodeo on July 1st.

The punishment? About $3,000 in fines, five years of probation (during which time she cannot own livestock), and five days in jail (already served). If it's unsupervised probation, how do they know she's not owning livestock?

Thirty-nine horses were taken from her property in February. Thirty-nine! They had no food and one of them collapsed while being examined and had to be euthanized. Ten were reclaimed by their Billings owner and the other 28 were adopted out to local homes. The restitution that she is paying will be put towards the vet and food bills incurred by the county in caring for the horses.

As for excessively whipping the horse at the rodeo, she only received a warning from the rodeo producer that "she would no longer be allowed around the rodeo arena."

A jury trial for Stephanie Francis had been scheduled for Oct. 15 — the same day Michael Francis is slated to be tried on his 39 charges.

I'll have to keep an eye on this one. You starve a child and there's an uproar. You starve 39 horses and get a slap on the wrist.

BLM Plans to Remove More Mustangs

Before I begin yet another rant caused by the BLM, I have a few pieces of news.

On August 16th, Silent Cash Dasher, became the second oldest American Quarter Horse to win an official race in North America. He's 16 years old. The second place and third place horses were 4 and 5, and even the second oldest horse in the race was 10 years younger. The oldest horse, Go Devil, won back in 1965 and was only 17 days older than Silent Cash Dasher. The news story is here.

In other news, Mine That Bird has been scratched from the Travers and I just heard that Nicanor (brother of Barbaro) has been given 60 days of turnout because of his injury. Some good news is (depending on how you look at it) Better than Honour, well-known broodmare and dam of Belmont winners, Jazil and Rags to Riches, and Grade II winner, Casino Drive, has been bred to top stallion, Street Cry. That should be one nice foal right there.

Advocates Fight Wild Horse Roundup

Why can't we just leave the mustangs ALONE? Where is the proof that they're actually starving out there on the range? Studies seem to be conflicting. We need someone to go out there and conduct an independent study. NOT one that's being funded by the BLM. Not one being conducted by someone that's biased.

Seriously, are there really removing these horses because they're starving, or because the ranchers are complaining? The horses were there first. They should have federal protection.

Not only that, but this is just costing more money that no one has. The horses aren't going to be adopted out. There are already hundreds of mustangs that are being kept in holding pens that aren't being adopted out. I've seen the requirements that the BLM have and now I know why. Yes, I can understand those being important, but they're fairly difficult to come by. I don't know a lot of people that have 6' fences.

Anyone know what about to that one couple that was going to adopt a good number of the mustangs and let them roam on their land? I liked them.

Are synthetic tracks REALLY safer?

Today we're going to talk about synthetic tracks in horse racing -- one of my favorite subjects, but not one to get me started on if you're just talking to me. Ever. Because I could go on for hours about horse racing -- even if it is my favorite sport (please don't hurt me).

But this morning, I checked the news to find that there have been two more accidents at Del Mar. With these two, that makes it eleven. In the last month and a half! Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Polytrack/synthetics supposed to be SAFER? Wasn't that the whole point of these tracks spending all that money to put them in?

Two riders hurt, horse euthanized

I'm not bashing Del Mar's track. In fact, I commend people for actually caring enough to attempt this. But we're barking up the wrong tree here. I'll tell you what I think another day (probably tomorrow unless something comes up).

Horses are dying and these accidents didn't even take place during a race. They took place during morning training.

Are synthetic tracks really safer than conventional dirt? Was it worth the money for these tracks to put them in? What do you think?

Ernest Paragallo

*yawns* It's been a long weekend...

Been catching up on the weekend's stakes races this morning. Very disappointed to hear that Kiddari didn't win the Lake Placid. I couldn't actually watch it because my computer acts up every time I try. I caught the Iselin though where a very impressive Chirac romped home with a 12-1 upset. Coal Play failed to fire. Wonder if he didn't like the slop... Careless Jewel's 10-length win in the Alabama gave me goosebumps. Very beautiful filly right there. She might've even given Rachel a run for her money (I didn't just say that.) I've got two more stakes races to watch this afternoon: the Del Mar Oaks and the Sky Classic. I was very glad to hear that Rachel's heading for the Woodward and Mine That Bird is back in training after his surgery.

Spent some time catching up on the cases. Not much on Lee, not that I expected there to be since the next court date isn't until September 16th. How long has this been going on for again? Nothing on Key either, but I'll keep watching. Nothing on Ziniuk either. (Haven't talked about him yet, but trust me, we will.)

And that brings us to today's topic which has to do with both horse racing and animal abuse: Ernest Paragallo.

For those of you that don't know, Paragallo is a thoroughbred racehorse breeder that's fairly well known. He bred Unbridled's Song and Artax, both major stakes winners.

Thoroughbred owner Paragallo pleads not guilty to neglect charges

Paragallo arraigned as officials revisit Center Brook

Happy ending for Baby Girl, one of the horses rescued

On April 8th, 177 emaciated Thoroughbreds were found on his property. Over seventy of these remain at Center Brook, while the rest were rescued. Three of the horses had to be euthanized and many of them had injuries that required attention. Paragallo remains free on bail and could face up to two years in jail and a fine of $35,000. At the time of the raid, Paragallo said he hadn't been to the farm in nine or ten months. He denies abusing the animals.

Now what I think about this whole thing... *deep breath* Well, first of all, there should be a lot more than 35 counts of animal cruelty. There were 177 horses starving on his farm! Whether or not he's actually been there in the last ten months is not the point. These horses were still his responsibility and unless he'd hired someone to take care of them, that's abandonment. If he has hired someone to take care of them than that person needs to share in this punishment because they're also at fault.

Second of all, he ought to pay for the vet, feed, farrier, and whatever other bills the horses have. I bet all that adds up to a lot more than $35,000 and someone has to pay it. Though I hear that a large number of the horses have already been adopted out, I'm sure there are a lot of bills for the new owners and the rescuers to pay. He's at fault there too since he should've been paying for their care in the first place.

If the case goes to trial (If?!) then court proceedings are not likely to begin until late winter or early next spring.

Keum H. Lee Case Update

I bring update on the case. Next court date is on September 16th. Here's the link and the update:

http://www.sunnyskiesbirdsanctuary.org/Wallkill%20Update%208-21-09.html

On 8/21/2009 11:59 AM, Linda Brink wrote:

Keum H. Lee has now formally been charged with two counts of felony animal abuse and two counts of misdemeanor animal abuse. Today, those charges were read to her. She still has not entered a plea. The next court date is September 16, in Goshen--the case has been adjourned until that date. Apparently, how Lee wants to handle the charges brought against her has not yet been decided.

So, between now and September 16th, things could change--or not change. The ADA and Lee might come to an agreement, in which case Lee will plead Guilty to the lesser misdemeanor charges and perhaps, surrender ownership of the horses and agree to provide payment of all expenses to heal them, and a maximum fine, in exchange for a dismissal of the felony charges. Or, Lee can plead Guilty to the lesser charges but not surrender ownership--in which case we sincerely hope, and strongly support, prosecution of Keum H. Lee for all of the charges currently against her. Pleading Guilty to misdemeanor charges without accepting additional responsibilities for her actions is, quite simply, not enough.

Another possibility is that no agreement between Lee and the ADA is reached, in which case Lee will enter a Not Guilty plea to all charges and it's off to court for a resolution.

Again, our suspicion is that she'll enter a guilty plea for the two lesser charges and surrender the horses. And the ADA will go with it.

Of all of these possibilities, only one will carry the day on September 16. Until that time, the future of Suzi and Whisk, and also that of Keum Lee, remains: undecided.

Linda Brink

Director, Sunnyskies Bird & Animal Sanctuary

Warwick, NY