THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CATSKILL, N.Y. — A trial is starting for a prominent thoroughbred breeder who was banned from racing after more than 170 malnourished horses were seized from his upstate New York farm.

Ernie Paragallo’s non-jury trial is beginning Tuesday in Greene County Court in Catskill, 20 miles south of Albany.

The Long Island resident was charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty after state police and welfare investigators raided his Center Brook Farm last April. He could face jail time and fines if convicted. (more…)

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FRANKFORT, Ky. — In Kentucky, sleek thoroughbreds are venerated as a state symbol, but existence can be grim for some horses lacking such stellar bloodlines.

A group of veterinarians urged lawmakers Wednesday to create a state board to help ensure the health and safety of Kentucky’s equine population — from racehorses to plodders.

The measure won easy approval from the House Agriculture and Small Business Committee. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CARSON CITY, Nev. — The federal Bureau of Land Management says it plans to allow people to adopt wild horses at reduced fees at an event in Carson City.

The BLM says the adoption event will be held Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Silver Saddle Ranch.

Officials say would-be adopters can be approved on site, and the BLM is offering free delivery within 400 miles.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PORT CLINTON, Ohio — Rescue groups have agreed to end their legal battle over the fate of dozens of emaciated Arabian horses taken from an Ohio woman who has pleaded not guilty to multiple animal cruelty counts.

A tentative agreement between the Humane Society of Ottawa County, which rescued the animals last month in northern Ohio, and the Sussex, N.J.-based Arabian Rescue Mission will send the horses to foster homes in Ohio within 40 miles of fairgrounds where they are currently being cared for.

The two groups had been fighting in court for custody of 36 horses after their previous owner signed them over to Arabian Rescue on Feb. 3. That was a few days after the humane society said it acted on a tip and found them severely malnourished on a farm near Oak Harbor, about 25 miles southeast of Toledo. (more…)

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LAS VEGAS — Federal land managers said Monday they’ll delay a roundup of most of the nearly 600 wild horses in a range in eastern Nevada, at least until after the herd’s spring foaling season.

Advocates fighting to stop mustang roundups in the West said they think their threat to file a lawsuit stopped the U.S. Bureau of Land Management from beginning a roundup next week of almost 500 wild horses in the Eagle Herd Management Area.

“We’re pleased that the BLM has postponed another ill-conceived, illegal and inhumane wild horse roundup,” said William Spriggs, a Washington, D.C.-based lawyer for In Defense of Animals based in San Rafael, Calif. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

RENO, Nev. — The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is seeking public comment on the proposed roundup of about 1,800 wild horses from the range north of Reno.

Agency spokesman Jeff Fontana said the roundup in the 800,000-acre Twin Peaks Herd Management Area is tentatively set for August and September.

About half of the area is in Washoe County and half is in Lassen County, Calif. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

RENO, Nev. — Federal land managers have finished a major roundup of wild horses from the range north of Reno, and are gearing up to remove thousands of more mustangs across the West.

U.S. Bureau of Land Management officials on Friday said 1,922 horses were removed from the Calico Mountains Complex in the roundup that was opposed by activists.

Agency spokeswoman JoLynn Worley said an estimated 600 horses remain in the complex, which is within the management level of 600 to 900 set for the area. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAN DIEGO — The city of San Diego says it will sell its seven police horses via an online auction as a way to help balance its budget.

The horse unit, started in 1983, is disbanding, and the officers have been assigned to other units.

About a third of the San Diego Police Department’s dogs are also being laid off. (more…)

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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Brand inspector Mike Walck won’t soon forget one of the worst cases of animal cruelty he has seen. In mid-November, between Rulison and Parachute, someone shot a horse in the head, leaving the gray gelding in his late teens or early 20s for dead. But the horse didn’t die.

“I don’t know why they were trying to kill the horse, but they damn sure shot it in the head,” Walck said angrily. “It’s a tough deal.”

Walck said the horse has been nursed back to health and is recovering. No arrests have been made in the case. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

RENO, Nev. — Two environmental groups are joining ranchers in an unusual coalition supporting the government’s contentious removal of about 2,500 wild horses from the range north of Reno.

The Sierra Club and Friends of Nevada Wilderness, which have been at odds with ranchers on past issues, agree with the need for the ongoing roundup of mustangs in the Calico Mountain Complex.

The organizations, in a joint news release with the sportsmen groups Safari Club International and Coalition for Nevada’s Wildlife, said an over-population of mustangs is harming native wildlife and the range itself. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

RENO, Nevada — In one of the worst cases they can remember, Nevada agriculture officials have cited a woman for animal cruelty for neglecting more than 100 barnyard animals, including 35 starving horses and a goat that died from eating wool off a sheep carcass.

Jan Lemley of Battle Mountain faces 42 counts of animal cruelty. Each count carries a civil fine of $1,000, said Nevada Department of Agriculture spokesman Ed Foster.

Lemley did not immediately return a telephone call from The Associated Press on Wednesday. She told The Battle Mountain Bugle, which first reported the incident, that her attorney had advised her not to comment. (more…)

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SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A Greene County lawmaker wants to make the slaughtering of horses for human consumption legal in Missouri.

But state Rep. Jim Viebrock has a lot of hurdles to clear.

Viebrock, R-Republic, is sponsoring state legislation aimed at bypassing a federal ban on meat inspectors working in horse slaughtering plants by getting processors to pay for the inspections. (more…)

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RENO, Nev. — Sheryl Crow has spoken out against the war in Iraq and in support of embryonic stem-cell research and efforts to combat global warming. Now, she’s trying to ride to the rescue of thousands of wild horses that roam the West.

After campaigning for President Barack Obama in 2008, the Grammy-winning singer has become a leading critic of his administration’s plans to remove as many as 25,000 mustangs from the range and ship them to pastures in the Midwest and East. (more…)

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SALT LAKE CITY — The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is putting off plans to round up about nearly 200 wild horses in a remote western Utah mountain range.

The agency had planned the roundup for Jan. 15, but it’s been rescheduled for July so the BLM can conduct an environmental analysis before proceeding. Snowy conditions would have made the roundup more difficult and the delay also gives the agency more time to coordinate with contractors who would do the work, officials said. (more…)

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KETCHUM, Idaho — A small group of activists in a south-central Idaho resort community are protesting the Bureau of Land Management’s capture and relocation of wild horses across the western United States.

Elissa Kline was among nearly a dozen protesters who gathered in Ketchum earlier this week. Kline, who lives in Hailey, held a large photo of two horses from an Owyhee county herd leashed with ropes. (more…)

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MILFORD, Conn. — Milford firefighters used a truck-mounted crane to rescue an elderly horse that got stuck in more than a foot of snow over the weekend.

Fire officials say the 31-year-old warmblood fell down Sunday morning outside Fox Trotter Horse Farm and became lethargic and numb after struggling unsuccessfully to get up.

Firefighters tried several methods to lift the horse, including inflating air bags beneath it and using water hoses to try to lift it up, before firefighter Dave King offered his boom truck with a small crane. (more…)

MIKE LINN
THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

A Drew County jury has acquitted a Monticello-area man in the August beating death of a Shetland pony, attorneys said Thursday.

Benjamin Briney, 20, was one of the first Arkansans charged under the state’s new felony aggravated-animal-cruelty law.

Briney testified to the jury Wednesday that he beat the pony to death with a baseball bat, although he said the pony’s owner had suggested he put the pony down by injecting it with a needle full of air, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Zach Vaughn said. (more…)

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CLARKSTON, Mich. — Animals may not have any concept of holidays, but if they did, some local animals might find themselves thanking Kid Rock this holiday season.

“I’ve always tried to help out where I can locally; I do a lot of things nationally and worldwide, too, but if I can’t start out by helping in my hometown, then why bother?” said Robert Ritchie, the Clarkston area resident and Romeo native better known as musician Kid Rock. (more…)

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A large animal triage operation has been set up at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds in Nashville to treat dozens of dogs, horses and mules.

The animals were found emaciated during two different animal rescues in Tennessee, so the Humane Society of the United States put them together at the fairgrounds, which has plenty of pens, barns and space. (more…)

KRISHA WILLIAMS TURBEVILLE

RESCUE IN THE ROCK

The Stone County sheriff’s office continues to investigate the removal Thursday of 25 horses from the O.K. Trading Post in Mountain View.

The Humane Society of the United States, along with the Stone County sheriff’s office, The Rescue Wranglers and the Humane Society of Missouri removed the horses from the trail riding business on Highway 14 Thursday. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WALNUT, Calif. — Lukas was all bite, buck and bitterness before Karen Murdock adopted him six years ago and made him an Internet star.

Murdock introduced the 16-year-old Thoroughbred to carrots and kindness, helped him forget years of abuse and taught him tricks: He can smile, yawn, kiss, nod, identify shapes, numbers and letters, fetch, wave, salute, pose and stretch — and he does some of it with his front feet on a pedestal. (more…)