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Unhealthy animals seized: 5 horses and goat in Winsted malnourished
Friday, September 29, 2006
BY BRIGITTE RUTHMAN AND BRYAN SUNDIE
Copyright © 2006 Republican-American
WINSTED -- Five malnourished horses and a goat were ordered removed from a Winsted property Thursday after state Department of Agriculture officials executed a search and seizure warrant at 142 Colebrook River Road.
Moriah Hill relinquished ownership of the three adult horses and two foals, but not the goat, Agriculture Commissioner F. Philip Prelli said. All were described by local and state animal control officers and local police as in deteriorating condition.
"If they had remained, their condition would have been life-threatening," Prelli said.
Hill doesn't own the property where the animals are housed but was responsible for their care. She remains the subject of an ongoing investigation which probably won't result in an arrest because the problem has been resolved, Prelli said.
"The objective here was to get the animals proper care and that has been done," Prelli said. "She has agreed to turn over the animals and understands how serious this matter is."
An investigation was launched by the state's Department of Agriculture Sept. 15 after a complaint was made to the Winchester Animal Control Officer. The animals were found to be underfed and without adequate water.
"I took them basically to save them," said Hill, who said she rescued the animals in May from a breeding farm in Iowa that was going out of business. Hill said she runs a horse appraisal business and never intended on keeping a herd of horses.
Hill, 23, of Wallens Street in Winsted, said she's been riding horses since a young age. One of the horses the state took was her own, Hill said, an animal she said she owned for five years. She disagrees with the state's assessment of the situation.
"They had gained weight since I got them," she said. "I personally felt they were doing better."
Rob Asselin, whose father, Lionel, owns the 27-acre property, said he made the complaint. He said the animals were at first in a portable garage along the busy road before they were moved out of sight from motorists and other horse owners who noted her haphazard housing materials. The family sometimes fed and watered the animals, he said.
"You could tell they were losing weight," Asselin said.
The animals were close to the Winchester Industrial Park, which abuts the property. Besides the portable garage there's a ramshackle supply tent of tarp that's propped up by tree branches, and debris is strewn about the area she rented month-to-month.
Hill said she fed the animals at odd times, so she could understand why someone would think they had gone without food. She said her intention was to place the animals in homes by fall, and said she had already gotten rid of four of them.
A mother to two young children, Hill said it cost about $900 per month to care from the animals. She said her husband, who had received a modest inheritance, covered the bill. Her appraisal business paid their family's bills, she said.
The goat may be returned to Hill soon, if she can prove that she will properly care for it, Prelli said.
The animals are being rehabilitated at the state's large animal rescue facility at Gate Correctional Institution in Niantic.
Woman arrested in animal cruelty case
10/19/2006
By KARSTEN STRAUSS
Register Citizen Staff
WINSTED - A local woman who was caring for five horses
and a goat at a farm on Colebrook River Road was
charged with cruelty to animals last week.
Moriah Hill, 23, 13 Wallens St., was charged Oct. 12
with six counts of cruelty to animals following a
month-long state Department of Agriculture
investigation. She was released on $2,500 bond the
same day, Winsted Deputy Chief Robert Scannell said.
Officers from the Department of Agriculture's Animal
Control unit, as well as Alicia Campbell, Winsted's
Animal Control officer and Officer Bob Variscone
arrested Hill.
The five horses and goat were seized by the state
Sept. 28 because the Department of Agriculture and
Campbell felt they were not being provided proper food
and water.
"She signed the horses over to the state, so they're
already property of the state," Agriculture Department
Commissioner F. Philip Prelli said Sept 29.
The animals will remain in state care until they are
healthy, and they will then be sold at auction, he
said.
"My guess is that they'll never be hers again," Prelli
said. "One of the conditions in the sale of the
auction would be that they would not be sold back to
her."
The evidence of alleged animal maltreatment was
gathered using spot inspections where the animals were
kept, 142 Colebrook River Road, which is owned by
Winsted resident Lionel Asselin. A woman at Asselin's
residence said Thursday that the family had no comment
on the matter.
"At times there was no water and no feed there,"
Prelli said.
The animals' dramatic weight loss tipped off Campbell
to the improper care, he said.
A veterinarian has examined the animals and provided
them with vaccinations for such ailments as rabies,
sephilitus and West Nile Virus, Prelli said.
Karsten Strauss can be reached by e-mail at
©The Register Citizen 2006
Update...
State To Sell Horses Cared For By Prisoners
Prisoners Help Care For Animals Seized In Cruelty Cases
NIANTIC, Conn. -- The state is auctioning off more than a dozen horses that were seized in cruelty cases and rehabilitated with the help of prisoners.
The animals were seized by the Department of Agriculture in abuse cases in Griswold, Mansfield and Winsted and nursed back to health at Second Chance Barn at Gates Prison in Niantic.
"A lot of the animals we get here, they're skin and bones, and after a few months here, they're fed, they're watered, they get all their vet care and they have human contact," said Maj. Ray Coggeshall of the Department of Correction.
Officials said that before the program began at the prison three years ago, they had a hard time finding space to board mistreated horses.
"We really had to scramble when we got any kind of cruelty complaint with large animals. We really didn't have any place to put them, and that's what started it. I had a case with 22 horses that we had no place to put, and that's why this barn has 22 stalls," said Maureen Griffin of the Department of Agriculture.
The inmates who work in the program at the low-security prison said that taking care of the animals is a pleasure, a challenge and a learning experience.
"It keeps me out of trouble," said one prisoner. "Actually, working with them, at first I didn't really like animals, but it's a good feeling being around them."
The horses, which include three miniatures, will be sold at auction on Jan. 20 at the UConn Horse Barn in Storrs.
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During the spring of 2006, a defendant northwest of Boston was charged with animal cruelty, for failing to provide proper food, water, and shelter for seventeen young horses. Appropriately, the defendant decided to sign over and surrender to the MSPCA the 17 suffering foals. In December 2006, by plea bargain, the defendant’s case was continued for a six month probationary period, during which the MSPCA will have the right to inspect the property. The defendant’s ownership of horses will be limited, and the defendant also will have to perform community service..jpg)
