Ernie Paragallo charged; SPCA takes over farm

[tector]

http://www.drf.com/news/article/102896.html

Paragallo arrested at farm
By Matt Hegarty

Ernie Paragallo, whose horses have been a mainstay on the New York racing circuit for more than a decade, was arrested on Friday at his Center Brook Farm in Coxsackie, N.Y., and charged with 22 counts of animal abuse for allegedly neglecting the welfare of 177 horses on the farm, according to a spokesperson for the Coxsackie police.

Paragallo, 51, was being arraigned on Friday afternoon at the Coxsackie police station, the spokesperson said. Each animal-abuse count carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a $1,000 fine.

[Stall Mucker]

Anybody know if Buster's Law (NY) was ever amended to include horses??

I know there was legislation proposed.

[chucklestheclown]

What's the bail?

[Scurlogue Champ]

Originally Posted by SuffolkGirl

The idea of getting rid of an animal because it is no longer useful is disgraceful.

Do you feel the same way about cattle?

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by Scurlogue Champ

Do you feel the same way about cattle?

They are useful as hamburgers

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by Scurlogue Champ

Do you feel the same way about cattle?

she said after they aren't useful. cattle are only useful as hamburger. i don't know too many who own them as pets.


where ya going junior? gotta take bossie for a walk.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by kgar311

The state police are a F***ing joke. WTF is a "sit down"????????????????? If that was any of us that had a dog with a cut on his foot with a limp we would of been handcuffed and paraded around. This jerk off starves 177 horses and gets to walk around for days and they dont go get him and **** his ass up, he gets to turn himself in? TRAVESTY

easy killer.

seems a lot of times they get an owner charged in this type of situation (altho not usually with the sheer # of victims) to cut a deal. generally they relinquish all ownership rights in a trade to avoid charges/jail time. altho in this case i'd also expect paragallo would have to pay up quite a bit of money to offset the expenses to get his former charges back in shape. perhaps he would also agree never to own horses again. thing is, if they go to court, and somehow he walked-he could conceivably get every horse back. no one wants that to happen.

[Scurlogue Champ]

Originally Posted by Danzig

she said after they aren't useful. cattle are only useful as hamburger. i don't know too many who own them as pets.


where ya going junior? gotta take bossie for a walk.

Horses are livestock. Not pets.

A racehorse is useful if it is earning money on the track or as a breeding animal.

When that use is diminished, the herd should be culled.

The only difference here between cattle and horses is that we don't eat horsemeat and it is considered culturally taboo.

If a cow could click off twelve second furlongs and took a bit, would we cease eating hamburgers and steaks?

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by Scurlogue Champ

Horses are livestock. Not pets.

A racehorse is useful if it is earning money on the track or as a breeding animal.

When that use is diminished, the herd should be culled.

The only difference here between cattle and horses is that we don't eat horsemeat and it is considered culturally taboo.

If a cow could click off twelve second furlongs and took a bit, would we cease eating hamburgers and steaks?

gosh, i hope not. i like steaks and would hate to have to switch to goat meat.
all i do know is that no animal deserves to be mistreated in the way that paragallo chose to treat those beautiful horses. regardless of the end result for an animal, mistreatment, starvation and neglect are all disgraceful acts.

[Scurlogue Champ]

Originally Posted by Danzig

gosh, i hope not. i like steaks and would hate to have to switch to goat meat.
all i do know is that no animal deserves to be mistreated in the way that paragallo chose to treat those beautiful horses. regardless of the end result for an animal, mistreatment, starvation and neglect are all disgraceful acts.

I definitely agree. Animals shouldn't be neglected at all. It is irresponsible.

[Scav]

http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/nat...y-charges.aspx

I really hope he has to do time, ala Michael Vick, for letting conditions get THIS bad

[HaloWishingwell]

"If a cow could click off twelve second furlongs and took a bit, would we cease eating hamburgers and steaks?"

It can be achieved, just give Mullins some time.

[GenuineRisk]

Article with mostly old news, but a little bit of updates on how the mares rescued are doing:

http://www.salon.com/wires/ap/us/200...zed/index.html

What keeps eating at me is the info that Pargallo agreed to let the Humane Society take 67 of the horses. While I'm glad the horses might get a chance for new homes, him trying to get rid of 60 horses is how this particular incident started, so, assuming he doesn't get banned from the sport, is this actually working out well for him? He gets rid of a bunch of horses he didn't want anyway, and I assume the Humane Society is the one paying to feed the additional ones seized while the legal stuff drags out?

Obviously he shouldn't be allowed to own animals, but I just feel really cynical about how it will all end.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by GenuineRisk

Article with mostly old news, but a little bit of updates on how the mares rescued are doing:

http://www.salon.com/wires/ap/us/200...zed/index.html

What keeps eating at me is the info that Pargallo agreed to let the Humane Society take 67 of the horses. While I'm glad the horses might get a chance for new homes, him trying to get rid of 60 horses is how this particular incident started, so, assuming he doesn't get banned from the sport, is this actually working out well for him? He gets rid of a bunch of horses he didn't want anyway, and I assume the Humane Society is the one paying to feed the additional ones seized while the legal stuff drags out?

Obviously he shouldn't be allowed to own animals, but I just feel really cynical about how it will all end.

from what i've read, he's paying for everything. of course if he had done that from the get-go, this would all have never happened, and some horses would still be alive and well.

[GenuineRisk]

Originally Posted by Danzig

from what i've read, he's paying for everything. of course if he had done that from the get-go, this would all have never happened, and some horses would still be alive and well.

I hope that's true. Until it hits them in the pocketbook, guys like this just don't care.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by GenuineRisk

I hope that's true. Until it hits them in the pocketbook, guys like this just don't care.

I think that this is going to end badly for Paragallo. At least in terms of his further participation in NY horseracing.

[reese]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

I think that this is going to end badly for Paragallo. At least in terms of his further participation in NY horseracing.

Do you think NYRA will have the "juice" to permanently ban Paragallo from it's racing premises? (excluding the fan areas) and enforce NO contact by any Paragallo with the Paranack agent/trainer.

Paragallo is already "blustering" he'll get a new agent.

[GenuineRisk]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

I think that this is going to end badly for Paragallo. At least in terms of his further participation in NY horseracing.

I also hope you're right, Chuck. I hate to think of someone who caused that much misery for a bunch of vulnerable animals getting off with a fine and then just "transferring" his stable to his kids, or something like that.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by reese

Do you think NYRA will have the "juice" to permanently ban Paragallo from it's racing premises? (excluding the fan areas) and enforce NO contact by any Paragallo with the Paranack agent/trainer.

Paragallo is already "blustering" he'll get a new agent.

i'd imagine they can and will. he has been paranecks agent since he lost his owners license a few years ago-he put the stable in his daughters' names...but now he's out as agent, so they have to get someone else.

i hope they do like the show jumping powers that be did, they banned a father and son for life who had killed some jumpers for the insurance money.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

I think that this is going to end badly for Paragallo. At least in terms of his further participation in NY horseracing.

And what of his participation in states other than NY? Let's see who has backbone.