Horse Abuser and Killer Ernie Paragallo, Gets Two Years
Paragallo Sentenced to Two Years in Jail
By JOE DRAPE
Ernie Paragallo, a prominent horse owner and breeder, was given the maximum sentence of two years in jail and a $33,000 fine on Tuesday, after his conviction on 33 counts of animal cruelty for starving and neglecting horses on his farm in the Hudson Valley.
After a sentencing hearing in Greene County, N.Y., Judge George J. Pulver Jr. delivered the sentence, which will also include restitution to animal rescue groups. Pulver said the amount of the restitution would be determined at a later hearing.
“Your moral compass is out of kilter and points you in improper directions,” Pulver told Paragallo at his sentencing. “Your sense of integrity, your code of conduct, your perception of right and wrong was perhaps formed by your days on either mean streets or Wall Street.”
Paragallo was convicted after a nonjury trial in March after Pulver heard testimony from veterinarians and horse rescue workers about the condition of many of the 177 horses on Paragallo’s Center Brook Farm in Climax, N.Y., about 20 miles south of Albany.
”I’m not denying it; if they want to lock me up, maybe they should,” Paragallo had said in a videotaped statement to the New York State Police that was played at his trial. ”Whether it’s my fault or not, it happened and it’s my responsibility.” At the time, though, his lawyer said he would appeal.
The stiff sentence was hailed by state regulators and animal rescue groups alike.
“The judge sent a strong message here that there are consequences, including time behind bars, when you don’t take care of your horses,” said John D. Sabini, chairman of the New York Racing and Wagering Board.
Sabini also announced that the board had begun the process of preventing Paragallo from ever returning to racing and is seeking civil fines — up to $5,000 per count — of the 33 counts of animal cruelty for which he has been convicted of in Greene County Court. Soon after his arraignment, the racing board forced Paragallo to surrender his agent’s license. His daughters Kristen and Jennifer also gave up their owners’ licenses, and most of the family racing stock has been sold.
Paragallo started 4,686 runners and earned $20.6 million in purses in New York. He also owns half of Unbridled’s Song, who commands a $100,000 stud fee and is one of the most successful sires in thoroughbred racing.
The Columbia-Greene Humane Society and Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals spent more than $82,000 caring for and finding homes for 96 of Paragallo’s mistreated horses. Six horses were too sick to recover and were euthanized.
The agency had plenty of help from a network of horse rescue groups, who also went out of pocket to save the horses and are due restitution.
“I believe this will be used as a template for other agencies to prosecute crimes against animals,” said Ron Perez, president of the Columbia-Greene Humane Society/S.P.C.A. “I feel that this was a just and reasonable sentence when one considers the amount of suffering these animals experienced; sometimes even death. Judge Pulver represented the victims well with a maximum sentence.”
Perez said he hoped to see the law changed to include a felony section for extreme abuse situations like the one at Paragallo’s farm.
The raid and subsequent arrest of Paragallo in April 2009 may have stunned the thoroughbred industry, but it has raised awareness of the plight of aging racehorses, especially in New York.
In the days since, new retirement centers like Old Friends at Cabin Creek Farm outside Saratoga Springs, N.Y., have sprung up, and the national A.S.P.C.A. announced a $1 million grant to six racehorse rescue groups.
In New York, tighter regulations have been put in to bar horsemen who have committed inhumane acts. In December the New York Racing Association said it would bar owners or trainers from competing at its racetracks if any of their horses were sold for slaughter.
Comments