Breeder charged with cruelty

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A prominent thoroughbred breeder who once owned a Kentucky Derby favorite was charged Friday with cruelty to animals, two days after authorities seized 177 malnourished horses at his Hudson Valley farm.

Ernie Paragallo was charged with 22 counts of violating New York’s Agriculture and Markets law that prohibits torturing or injuring an animal or failing to provide sustenance, New York state police dispatcher Terri Gallagher said.

After Paragallo’s arrest, New York State Racing and Wagering Board chairman John Sabini released a statement saying the board had “immediately terminated his privilege to be involved with thoroughbred racing in New York.”

The 51-year-old Paragallo was arraigned before Coxsackie Town Justice Thomas Fori and sent to the Greene County Jail in lieu of $5,000 cash or $10,000 bond bail.

He did not immediately return a message left on his cell phone after his arrest.

Paragallo, the owner of 1996 Derby favorite and fifth-place finisher Unbridled’s Song, was arrested after driving upstate from his Long Island home to be questioned by investigators about the malnourished horses found Wednesday on his Center Brook farm. The farm is in Greene County, 20 miles south of Albany.

“It wasn’t knowing neglect,” Paragallo said. “Did I try and harm any of those horses? Absolutely not. Did some of them come up skinny? Absolutely. Was it mismanagement? Absolutely. I’m not shying away from it. But I didn’t abuse them.”

State police and animal protection organizations seized the horses at his upstate farm. Veterinarians examined the animals and found all of them to be in varying stages of malnutrition.

The horses remain on the farm under the supervision of the Columbia Greene Humane Society, which has brought in hay and grain for them. Paragallo agreed Friday to transfer ownership of 67 of the horses to the humane society for future adoption.

Ron Perez, president of the humane society, said that in addition to being malnourished, many of the horses were infested with internal and external parasites, suffering from untreated lacerations, and in need of hoof care. He said broodmares were kept in stalls without proper bedding.

“This is a sad situation for the animals,” Perez said. “The way he let them go is absolutely unconscionable.”