Two horses — deemed medically neglected by a rescue organization — were seized from Friesians of Majesty this month, nearly a year after state officials first investigated animal cruelty there.
Jen Straub, executive director of Dorset Equine Rescue, said she took in the two seized horses on June 6. As she cares for them, she keeps thinking back to the 13 horses that were removed from the same Townshend facility a year ago, she said.
“Last summer, we had some horses that were emaciated,” Straub said. “This time, the problem wasn’t about them being starved, it’s about them not being able to manage painful health conditions. In my opinion, that’s still neglect.”
Straub said one of the horses she received this month is in constant pain from navicular syndrome, a progressive condition that causes lameness by degenerating bones and tissues in horses’ feet. The other, she said, is battling pneumonia and heaves, a respiratory disease that’s similar to asthma in humans.
Both are being medicated and are undergoing diagnostic tests for other health concerns as they adjust to life in their new home, Straub said.
Horses were first seized from Friesians of Majesty — which calls itself the “largest full-service Friesian breeding and training facility in the United States” — last July. The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department executed a search warrant at the property after receiving a complaint of animal mistreatment.
According to an affidavit filed by Vermont game warden David Taddei after last year’s search, many horses were “living in very poor conditions,” had untreated medical conditions and were “very thin.” At the time, authorities took 13 of the farm’s more than 100 horses — only “those animals that were in such poor physical condition that their long-term welfare would be in jeopardy if they remained on the property,” according to the affidavit.
Taddie declined to comment on the nature of this summer’s seizure because it is an ongoing investigation.
Robert Labrie, the facility’s owner, said the horses were “illegally” seized last summer and this month.
“It’s nothing but lies,” he said in an interview with VTDigger this week. “They say they have a search warrant and they have to seize these horses, and I have no idea why.”
During a hearing on April 18, Labrie maintained that he had done nothing wrong. He was ordered to repay Dorset Equine Rescue $38,600 to reimburse the costs of boarding and caring for the first group of seized horses.
The hearing came six months after Windham County Superior Court Judge John Treadwell called for the forfeiture of the 13 seized horses and wrote in a ruling that “the evidence clearly and convincingly establishes that each horse was subjected to neglect because the horse was deprived of necessary medical attention or adequate food or shelter.”
Straub said Dorset Equine Rescue has frequently cared for seized horses since she founded the organization in 2012. But, she said, this is the first time she’s seen a seizure conducted twice at the same facility.
It’s an example of the downfalls of the state’s current strategy to investigate animal cruelty cases and enforce regulations, she said.
“In most cases, (state officials) just take all the horses, and the problem’s over,” she said. “But you can’t do that in this case when there are more than 100 horses.”
The first problem, she said, is that nonprofits like hers don’t have the resources or capacity to take in that many animals at once. She said she’s been feeling the crunch more and more as the state increasingly relies on rescue organizations to house seized animals.
The larger problem, according to Straub, stems from the fact that a second investigation at Friesians of Majesty was ever needed. In her view, the current animal welfare system allowed a repeat offender to “slip through the cracks” and neglect more animals in the process, she said.
The fragmentation of Vermont’s animal welfare system has long been a concern for animal rights advocates. Depending on the town and the nature of an animal cruelty case, investigations can become the responsibility of the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department or a town’s law enforcement or animal control officers. The statewide force is often too busy to give concentrated attention to each case, while the local options can be unequipped to handle such cases.
In response, Gov. Phil Scott signed H.626 into law earlier this month to create a single governmental agency designated to investigate and respond to animal cruelty cases.
The law creates a division of animal welfare within the state Department of Public Safety. According to the legislation, the director of the new division — who will be appointed by the commissioner of public safety — is tasked with developing a comprehensive plan that outlines how the division will oversee investigations, respond to animal cruelty complaints, enforce animal welfare laws, collaborate with other law enforcement agencies, find care for seized animals and more.
The director, once named, has eight months to finish the plan and submit it to the General Assembly, according to the legislation. Next, the Legislature is responsible for enacting any new laws needed to implement the plan. Only then can employees be hired to join the director and start work within the animal welfare division.
Adam Silverman, a spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety, told VTDigger in an email that the timeline of appointing a director and working on the comprehensive plan is still unknown, and more details on the new division will not be available until the end of the summer.
Staub said any time spent “in limbo” — between hearings, between investigations, or between enforcement systems as a whole — is concerning when animals’ lives are on the line. For now, she said, she’s just hoping that the two horses she received this month can make quick recoveries.
“They’re both doing well, eating well, drinking well,” she said. “But it’s always a hard adjustment, and it’s hard to watch them go through it.”
Read the story on VTDigger here: 2nd seizure of horses in Townshend reignites criticism of Vermont’s animal welfare system.