April 13, 2009: UPDATE on Paragallo Horses

Click on title to see article and pics;
http://license.icopyright.net/user/viewContent.act?clipid=254077470&mode=cnc&tag=3.5721%3Ficx_id%3D20090413-pf1apon-V6647

New York Thoroughbred Breeders Association to go "No-Slaughter?"

According to this article, apparently they are thinking about it, and more!

New York Thoroughbred Breeders, an owners' group, has proposed a task force to broaden programs that assist thoroughbred owners forced by financial hardship to sell their horses, while developing a policy that punishes any owner, breeder or trainer who either directly or indirectly allows a horse to be sent to slaughter.

Click on title above to see full article;
http://license.icopyright.net/user/viewContent.act?clipid=254077470&mode=cnc&tag=3.5721%3Ficx_id%3D20090413-pf1apon-V6647

Another Brainless PSI "Horse Lover"

Click title above to go to the Pro-slaughter blog and comment (rebuttals) Needed please! This is another PSI (pro-slaughter idiot) so-called horse lover who believes horse slaughter is necessary and furthermore she argues, it is NOT evil! Also, like so many other PSI's (blind because they refuse to see) ...she blames the closing of the U.S. equine slaughter houses on the "over-population" of "unwanted" horses today.

Does PSI NOT do her homework? Does she NOT know that more American horses are being shipped to slaughter then ever before? What does she NOT understand about meat-market auctions and feedlots in every state or that SLAUGHTER IS STILL AN OPTION for any American who wants to slaughter their horses?

Sheik Mohammed in Hot Water

SHEIK MOHAMMED is under investigation following the positive swabs returned
by one of his endurance horses after races in Dubai and Bahrain. Of course,
Sheikh Mohammed is the head honcho of both Godolphin and Darley racing and
breeding juggernauts and ironically his wife, Princess Haya al-bint is the
president of the International Equestrian Federation, who will hear charges
against Sheikh Mohammed.

Princess Haya has long campaigned for a drug-free sport and has informed the
seven person committee that she will stand down from her position and take
no part in the hearing and adjudication on the charges against her husband.

His horse horse Tahhan - tested positive for Guanabenz - used to treat
hypertension.

The horse also tested positive after a Bahrain race to 16b-Hydroxy
Stanozolol and anabolic steroid used to build muscle and build oxygen
carrying red blood cells. The drug is a metabolite of Stanozolol which was
used legally on Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown but was also the drug
responsible for seeing Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson disqualified from the
Seoul Olympics.

Sheikh Mohammed's staff issued a statement saying that he strongly condemned
the use of the drugs and was totally unaware of their use on his horse.

The statement did however add that "His Highness has volunteered his
acceptance that he is "the person legally responsible."

PARAGALLO RAKING IN MILLIONS IN STUD FEES

He's gonna need all the money he can get, to pay the vet bills on 177 starving and neglected horses.

Paragall Raking in Millions By Ray Paulick

Ernie Paragallo may or may not have financial problems in his private life. But he very likely has a legal problem, stemming from the reported discovery on his upstate New York farm of horses that were not being fed or cared for properly or humanely. Police in New York on Wednesday took control of Center Brook Farm and its 170-plus equine occupants.

In one published report, Paragallo claims to be spending $5,000 per week on feed for the horses on his farm. That sounds like a lot of money to many of us, but Paragallo has played at the top end of the racing and breeding world. One of his racing stable’s former stars, Unbridled’s Song, winner of the $1-million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in 1995, has been an extremely successful stallion, standing as the property of a syndicate at Taylor Made Farm in Kentucky.

Unbridled’s Song is the sire of two of this year’s leading Kentucky Derby contenders, Old Fashioned and Dunkirk.

According to sources, Paragallo owns as many as 20 of the 40 shares in Unbridled’s Song, whose 2009 live foal stud fee is $125,000 (down from $150,000 in 2008, and $200,000 in 2007). Each of those shares leads to roughly two live foals per year, meaning that if Paragallo owns 20 shares he will get $5 million or more in revenue in stud fees from Unbridled’s Song when this breeding season’s foals are born in 2010 (20 shares=40 foals, times $125,000 stud fee). Over a three-year period (factoring in the higher fees from 2007-08), Paragallo’s revenue from Unbridled’s Song could approach $20 million.

Yes, he certainly can afford to feed and provide proper veterinary care for his horses.


http://www.paulickreport.com/blog/paragallo-raking-in-millions-in-stud-fees/

GOTCHA! CAMERA CATCHES CHARLES TOWN CLERK, JOCKEYS FUDGING

More Black for the Industry Eye

"Gotcha!" By Ray Paulick

Michael Garrison had his occupational permit revoked and he was fined $1,000 and suspended indefinitely as the clerk of scales at Charles Town Races & Slots in West Virginia after an investigation determined he was not reporting overages of assigned weights of riders weighing out before races. Seven jockeys were suspended 30 days and fined $1,000 each for violation of the West Virginia rules of racing pertaining to riding weights and dishonest or corrupt practices.

Garrison was escorted off the Charles Town premises by security personnel following the first race March 27, according to chief steward Danny Wright and association steward Robert Lotts. Acting on an anonymous tip, track security had installed surveillance cameras in the weigh-out area adjacent to the clerk of scales office and Garrison was allegedly observed being derelict in his duties by not reporting overweights of the riders.

After hearings were conducted on Wednesday, the fines and suspensions were announced. The seven jockeys suspended are: Alexis Rios Conde, Tony Maragh, Anthony Mawing, Luis Perez, Lawrence Reynolds, Jesus Sanchez, and Dale Whittaker. The suspensions are effective from today (April 9) through May 8.

Garrison refused to testify at the hearing, according to Kelli Talbott, deputy attorney general representing the West Virginia Racing Commission. He was suspended for failing to use due diligence in the performance of his duty as clerk of scales, in violation of West Virginia rules of racing.

No evidence was presented that bribes may have been involved.

“No riders admitted to accepting or giving money or anything of that nature,” Wright told the Paulick Report. “That never materialized.”

Former rider Mark Munden has assumed the clerk of scales duties.


http://www.paulickreport.com/blog/gotcha-camera-catches-charles-town-clerk-jockeys-fudging/

Paragallo: Investigations before the Bust

NY - Under Investigation, Paragallo Says Some Horses He Owns Are Underweight

By JOE DRAPE
Published: April 6, 2009

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is investigating
whether Ernie Paragallo, a prominent New York thoroughbred breeder
and owner, has neglected and abused horses on his Center Brook Farm.

Ron Perez, the president of the Columbia-Greene Humane Society/
S.P.C.A., said investigators had been on the farm in Climax, N.Y., south
of Albany, within the past 10 days. He also acknowledged that a woman
who had picked up two horses that were malnourished and infected with
parasites filed a complaint with the state police on Saturday.

The woman, Colleen Segarra, said she was allowed into a barn where at
least 16 other horses showed signs of distress and neglect. She said they
had no bedding, like woodchips, and were severely undernourished.

"You could see their hips and spines and they had lice," said Segarra, who
is a member of the New York State Horse Council, an animal-protection
group. "They were in debilitating condition."

Segarra said she offered to take more horses off the farm as well as to
summon and pay for a veterinarian to tend to them, but was told by
Center Brook's farm manager that she could not without Paragallo's
permission. She told the police that the manager had said that he
had not been provided with enough food over the winter and that he
had trouble properly feeding the more than 125 horses on the
511-acre farm.

Paragallo denied those charges and said he had spoken to and was
cooperating with investigators from the S.P.C.A., a nonprofit organization
that has legal authority to make arrests in cases of animal cruelty.
Paragallo said he provided 14.7 tons of hay and 5,000 pounds of feed
a week for his horses.

"It was a rough winter," Paragallo said Monday. "I'm not going to lie —
there's seven or eight that are maybe 75 or 100 pounds underweight.
The investigators suggested we change our feed, and we're doing so.
There's a mare there that we're feeding three times a day."

Paragallo has been a fixture on the American racing scene since the
early 1990s when he was a leading buyer of yearlings and 2-year-olds
at auctions in Kentucky, New York and Florida. On Saturday, he was
at Aqueduct watching his colt Cellar Dweller compete in the Wood Memorial.

In 1994, Paragallo purchased Unbridled's Song for $200,000 at a Saratoga Select Yearling Sale, and the colt went on to win the Florida Derby and the Wood Memorial, where he sustained a cracked hoof. That injury was blamed for his disappointing fifth-place finish in the 1996 Kentucky
Derby, where he was the favorite. Still, Unbridled's Song — of whom
Paragallo owns half — is one of the most successful stallions in horse
racing, commanding a $125,000 stud fee and producing more than
100 horses that won $1 million.

Since 1996, Paragallo's family-owned Paraneck Stable has been among
the nation's leading racing outfits, starting 4,686 runners that have
earned $20.6 million in purse money.
The S.P.C.A.'s Perez declined further comment because the investigation
was continuing. In New York, a person found guilty of animal cruelty, a
misdemeanor, can face up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine for each
count.

Several individuals and rescue groups have come forward with harrowing
tales of horses under Paragallo's care. Last month, four undernourished
and neglected former racehorses belonging to him were rescued from a
New York kill pen, one step from being slaughtered.

They were among more than 20 horses from Paragallo's farm that were
sold to slaughter for $680.

Paragallo said he had given the horses to a Florida-based breeder in
December with the agreement that he could breed the mares back to one
of his stallions based in New York or Florida. However, a horse transporter,
Richie Baiardi, said that he had picked them up at Paragallo's farm at the
end of February with the intention of taking them to Florida but could not
because of they were "bags of bones, literally walking hides," and would
not have survived the trip.

All four mares are being rehabilitated by Another Chance 4 Horses, a
horse-rescue group, at its farm in Bernville, Pa. Three other mares are
recovering at a boarding and training center in Fulton, N.Y., operated
by Lisa Leogrande, who discovered the horses in the kill pen.

In January 2007, another rescue group, Equine Advocates, took three
horses from Center Brook; they required more than a month in an equine
hospital in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The veterinarian who treated them,
Dr. Bill Barnes, said the horses were "starving to death."

Another Chance 4 Horses and Equine Advocates have produced
photographs that show the horses coming off the farm undernourished
and unhealthy.

Segarra said the two horses she removed Saturday, a mare named
Hunter's Circle and a yearling she produced by the Paragallo stallion
Griffinite, were "badly debilitated."

She said: "The yearling looked like a weanling, and the veterinarian I
had look at them said it would take at least six months to rehabilitate
both of them. I wanted to take more with me. The ones I had to leave
behind are haunting me."

NY TB Breeder Starves 177 Horses

Thursday, April 9, 2006:

One-hundred and seventy-seven (177) neglected thoroughbred horses were confiscated today from Paraneck Stables, a thoroughbred breeding farm in Greene Co., NY., manged by Ernie Paragallo, owner of "Center Brook Farm," another thoroughbred breeding facility.

Article; http://www.lohud.com/article/20090409/NEWS05/904090483

Please call the appropriate authorities as listed below to request full prosecution of this case. Remind them that animal cruelty and neglect are serious crimes and we are talking about 117 living beings here!

New York State Dept. of Agriculture & Markets
John Huntley, DVM, Director (518) 457 - 3502
http://www.agmkt.state.ny.us/AI/AIHome.html

Greene Co. Prosecutor,Stephen K. Haller
(937) 562 - 5250
http://www.co.greene.oh.us/prosecutor/default.htm

The horses are in the care of;
The Columbia Greene Humane Society
and SPCA;
http://www.cghs.org/

CGHS/SPCA has been helping animals since 1955, they are a no-kill facility that receives no public support. We heartily urge you to give them support now if you are able. You can imagine the cost involved in caring for 177 severley neglected horses. I am sure anything you may be able to give, even the smallest amount, will be greatly appreciated.

You can email them at;
GCHSuser001@aol.com
for more information or
you can make a donation through Paypal by clicking the link below;

http://www.cghs.org/navigation.htm

or give by credit card over the phone.
Contact Katrina or Ron at (518) 828-6044 and tell them you would like
to contribute to the horse fund.



Click on title above for petition calling for full prosecution of this case;
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/ny-tb-breeder-starves-177-horses

NY Breeders Out of Control

New York State has some of the most lucrative race-horse breeding incentive programs in the entire country. For New York breeders, the rewards go beyond the mere selling off of offspring, as they continue earning dividends throughout their horses' New York racing careers. And at the $30,000 claiming level and above, owners can earn additional money for simply campaigning a New York-bred in New York State. For registered New York stallions, the stallion owner continues to benefit financially beyond the standard stallion stud fees as his or her stallion's progeny race and earn purse money at New York racetracks.
In addition, there is the New York Stallion Stakes Series, which is restricted to eligible progeny of nominated registered New York-based stallions.

More on the "NY Bred" Fund; http://www.nytbreeders.org/program-awards.asp

On Thursday, April 9, 2009, 177 starving and neglected NY
Thoroughbred racehorses were confiscated from Ernie Paragallo's
"Center Brook" Horse Farm in Coxsackie, Greene Co., NY.

Article; http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20090409/NEWS01/90409004

Last summer, 82 starving and neglected NY Thoroughbred racehorses were confiscated from Geraldine Trupia's "Norcrest Farm" in Troupsburgh, Steuben Co., NY.

Article; http://www.steubencourier.com/news/2008/1005/front_page/001.html

There is no doubt that breeding incentives (including state and federal
tax breaks to the equine industry) cause overbreeding. Studies have shown that when breeding incentives are in place, horse-slaughter statistics rise; http://unnecessaryevils.blogspot.com/2008/09/breeding-incentives-cause-spike-in.html

Independant studies as well as the USDAs own reports show that
most horses sent off to slaughter are young, healthy registered
American Quarter-Horses and racing horses. No one denies that
there is a problem with over-production of equines in America today, particularly in these tough economic times. No one can deny that overbreeding results in an increase of equine starvation and
neglect, and needless, senseless slaughter.

While we strongly urge full prosecution of any case of animal abuse
or neglect, we believe it is time for the industry to step up to the plate
and take responsibility for their part in the promotion of such
irresponsible breeding. While organizations such as the American
Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) and the National (and New York)
Racing Associations encourage us to "breed baby breed," nothing is
ever mentioned about the concept of "responsible" breeding or a
long-term after care plan for their industry casts-offs.

Please contact the following organizations to let them know, NOW is the time to take responsibility for the part they play in the over-production, abuse, starvation, neglect and needless slaughter of so many horses.
Tell them they need to get their breeding under control. Replace
incentives with rewarding disincentives. The breeding of less horses
but of better quality would be a boon to the industry, as would the establishment of a long-range retirement plan for all NY bred ex-racehorses. Tell the New York Racing Industry to "set the pace" for
the rest of the horse-racing world; less breeding and more retirement plans would be a good start;


New York State Thoroughbred Breeding & Development Fund Corporation
Saratoga Spa State Park
19 Roosevelt Drive
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
Phone: (518) 580-0100 Fax: (518) 580-0500
E-mail: nybreds@nybreds.com
Website: http://www.nybreds.com/
Martin G. Kinsella, Executive Director
Jim Zito, Web Site and Advertising Coordinator


New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc.
57 Phila Street, 2nd Floor
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
Phone: (518) 587-0777 Fax: (518) 587-1551 Fax
E-mail: info@nytbreeders.org
Website: http://www.nytbreeders.org/
Jeffrey A. Cannizzo, Executive Director


Genesee Valley Breeders Association
P.O. Box 301
Shortsville, NY 14548-0301
Phone/fax: (585) 289-8524
Mary Beth Hasenauer, Secretary



Finger Lakes Racing Association
Route 66 & Beaver Creek Rd.
Farmington, NY 14425
Phone: (585) 924-3232
Website: http://www.fingerlakesracetrack.com/


New York Racing Association
P.O. Box 90
Jamaica, NY 11417
Phone: (800) 221-6266 (outside New York)
(800) 522-5554 (within New York)
E-mail: nyra@nyrainc.com
Website: http://www.nyra.com/
Paul J. Campo, Racing Secretary


New York Stallion Stakes
Phone: (718) 641-4700 ext. 3806 (Aqueduct)
(516) 488-6000 ext. 4806 (Belmont and Saratoga)
Website: http://www.nyra.com/Aqueduct/Horsemen/NYStallionSeries/NYStallionSeries.shtml
Carmine Shirlaw, Coordinator

Please also see the petition we have made asking for full prosecution
of the Ernie Paragallo / Center Brook Farm case involving the neglect
of 177 racehorses;

Thanks for caring.

Together, we can make a difference!

Click on title above to see and sign petition;
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/ny-breeders-out-of-control


http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/ny-breeders-out-of-control

NYRA "Shocked and Appalled" at Paragallo Plight

Of course, they knew about the situation since 2005 when they suspended Paragallos licence for financial instability. Still, Paragallo racing, the neglect and the breeding went on,...

The NYRA also fails to mention that there was horses confiscated from ole ernies farm back in January 07' wherein Sue Wagner of Equine Advocates in Chatam Ny wound up caring for some of his neglected horses.

(see post entiteld Paragallo: Investigations Before the Bust)

Click on title above to read a Times Union article