*speechless with hatred*

[lagilman]

I don't hate the human race as a whole. Often I think it has immense potential to actually do something worthwhile someday.

I do, however, hate an awful lot of individuals.


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 rest of the article will break your heart. This isn't some fly-by-night operation, or a household unable to care for a horse or two -- this is a Big Name, a going corporation, and a hundred and seventy animals, including twenty-five mares in foal. I know times are tough, grain costs are high, and racing is a business. But I don't give a damn if an animal is going to be raced, petted, or eaten -- they deserve humane treatment.

Or maybe we should come up with a better term, since "human" doesn't seem to go into "humane" quite the way it should.

Comments

[deire.livejournal.com]

I..I...I WANT TO GROW BIG WOLF FANGS AND USE THEM ON HIM. Okay, so not really, but no other mental image covers it.

[miintikwa.livejournal.com]

The really craptastic part?

Paragello had a history of abuse and neglect to horses in his care.

They KNEW that this guy was a bastard coated bastard with bastard filling, and they LET him have horses again! I want to find the idjit that licensed him and beat them with a big stick! It's just... AGH!

[wedschilde.livejournal.com]

gggrrrrrrrrrrr

[mevennen.livejournal.com]

This is disgusting. There was a similar, though not quite so bad, case with someone over here (a woman, not in racing). I'm glad this guy will be banned and I hope he will be jailed.

Quite apart from any moral issues (which are immense), it is not in any trainer's business interests to maltreat their horses.

[lagilman]

and yet he plays the Innocent Ignorant Party -- "I wasn't there, haven't been there for months, it's all the fault of the Evil Overseer who has been cashing my checks and not paying the feed or vet bills..." Dude, that don't fly. At all. What have you been doing for nine months, if not checking up on the business that bears your name and your reputation? hmmmm?

Not that this in any way exonerates every single person who worked on that farm and didn't blow the whistle -- it came down two two women who didn't even work there to do something about it. Kudos to them -- kicks in indelicate places to every single other person who had any sort of extended contact with those animals and said nothing....

[deza.livejournal.com]

Sounds like he's planning to throw his Farm Manager to the wolves on this one. I hope Paragello sees jail time for this. I met him once, ironically enough at a racehorse retirement benefit. He's slimy.

It was a rash of articles like this that brought the conditions of racing greyhounds to the public eye, and those conditions have dramatically improved for most of the dogs since then. Hopefully the results in horse racing will b similar.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

I read this article and was very upset by it. Shame on everyone involved.

[miintikwa.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Exactly. I'm sorry, but you are responsible for animals that are cared for in your name, PERIOD, whether you're on site or not.

And yes. Kicks to them all. Boot upside the head!