I cannot believe lightning didn’t strike as he spoke…
Dec 17 2009
Jerry Hahn blathering about how he was “just trying to save the horses’ lives.”
You piece of shit. You were at best trying (unsuccessfully and ignorantly) to fatten them up for kill. Now, you managed to load them up and hide them somewhere else but trust me…someone will talk. Lots of people have been talking. You are not as popular as you think you are, Jerry, and a lot of people are sick of seeing this kind of abuse and neglect.
This is NOT over. You may be a big fish in a small pond in Nelson County, but you’re about to get washed out to the ocean.
87 comments to “I cannot believe lightning didn’t strike as he spoke…”
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As other people will probably find also, there’s a comment on the news article you linked to that tells where the horses have been taken:
aprildiamond said on December 16, 2009 at 9:53 PM
The horses were moved quickly after we all started causing such a fuss with Dean Watts County Judge Executive and Jim Hahn, Magristrate. They have been taken to: Buck Ryan’s place : 2592 Blueball Rd, Rineyville, KY 40162 Now they are probably headed to an even worse place! Please someone step up …. and … help stop this in Nelson County!
Someone left a comment at the bottom of that page…saying she knows where they are at…
This is disgusting!!
so now what, follow him around to find the horses? At this point what can people do legally? This is a nightmare. Do we send letters? if so to whom?
“Trying to save the horses’ lives” means, keeping them barely alive until his kill-buyer buddy could pick them up.
Apparently this is not the first time Jerry-bubba Hahn has been shielded from prosecution by his good-old-boy network. Must be nice to be an animal abuser when your well-connected friend and boss is also in charge of Animal Control in your county.
Hahn is an elected county “Fiscal Magistrate,” not sure what the title means in his county (Civil court?) but the “fiscal” in his title seems to imply that he knows something about financial accountability, how to run a business and make a profit, etc.
Not only did he break the law in his inhumane negligance towards these horses, he has proven that he is fiscally clueless: buying 20 or so sick and starving animals at the auction for $50 or so each, cramming then onto a half-acre mud yard with no water, moldy hay, a bunch of cattle in no better condition and expecting them to “get fat” on fermented grain byproducts, letting two of them drop dead (actually three if you include the stillborn foal left lying in the mud for two days,) then paying for transportation to send whoever’s still alive on to bubba’s kill yard–is no way to make a profit.
I would not be surprised if once again he escapes accountability, unless the state gets involved. But surely, at least he will not be re-elected.
I just hope those poor houses are found before the worst happens.
Houses=horses–sorry.
I want to slap him! It’s astonishing he thinks people will be dumb enough to believe him. A blind person could see what was happening there wasn’t ‘saving’ those horses. Who ‘saves’ a horse and then doesn’t even bother to take the auction sticker off it???
I am disgusting that no charges have been laid. The condition of the horses (and cattle) and those in which they were forced to live in were completely inexcusable. As a person in a position of authority he should have been made an example of, not let off the hook.
I hope that someone finds those horses and reports their new hiding spot before it’s too late.
I feel so sorry for them, I really doubt they have gone somewhere better
After watching Mr. Hahn get angry and defensive on the WHAS news clip and seeing his own well cared for horses, I withdraw my suggestion that well intentioned ignorance was a possible cause. How can anyone who has well cared for horses not recognize or care about starving ones in your care? The clip of his horses confirmed that yes, he is an asshat.
Once again the “good ol’ boys” step up to protect one another. Happens all the time and not just in the horse world. A 14-year-old fan of Joe Shelton’s wrote this on http://www.tbfriends.com this morning: “… It is my Christmas wish that humans find a way to make things better for animals. Especially horses. No one can do this alone. It takes a village. Who cares about another cd under my tree? Give me a world full of happy and safe horses. That is all I want. …”
Me too. I’d further specify that the “village” be composed of something other than a bunch of idiots.
Do innocent people move the horses during the night and refuse to tell the media where they are? No. He’s not innocent… or ignorant, since his own horses are clearly well cared for. I agree with the person who said his friend is likely a kill buyer, and he’s trying to keep them alive for said friend until they are shipped to slaughter. Most likely he didn’t want to “waste” his better hay on them.
Did it make anyone else furious and almost physically ill listening to him rant about how he wasn’t doing anything wrong? He sounded like he was ready to get into a fight with the camera man. I could barely hear him over the alarms going off in my head.
OT but wanted to get this out there. Sent email to Fugs on this, but it’s even worse then I imagined. Beauty Haven’s Farm & Rescue now has this mare and is working to save her. Amber Hyder, evidently self-proclaimed rescuer, had not even had a vet out. Unbelievable. Thank goodness the mare is now safe.
http://www.beautysequinerescue.org/ladybug.htm
Sorry, but both today’s blog and this issue have me totally beside myself this morning.
Cindy
Cindy,
I read this blog…OMG!!!…I didn’t really search around in the website or anything, but what/why does she have these wounds?…what are they from?…so disgusting…I hope this woman can bring this little mare back to health and happiness…she’s probably already feeling 80% better with just the vet coming out and cleaning everything up…if someone did this to this poor mare, they should have the shit kicked outta them…I thought I read for sure though, that they didn’t get treatment for her for weeks?…is that right?…they should STILL have the shit kicked outta them…straight shot, right to the babymaker…ignorant bastards
I couldnt see, but it sounded like she was attacked by a dog or something in that category???? Can anyone verify that? Then who ever had her didnt bother to have a vet out to fix her and it just went downhill from there. She does have very sweet eyes though, and I hope some one gets her that loves her alot. not sure about temperment but She would eb good for a youth rehab/handicap student.
From the daily blog on their website:
We’ll have a post and pictures tomorrow on LadyBug, the mare that was viciously attacked by what was thought to be a dog over a week ago. She has very deep puncture and laceration wounds on her neck and head and a couple of wounds in her flank area. Please say prayers for her recovery – it’s going to be a long and uncomfortable one. This was the only picture I got this evening that, IMO, isn’t too graphic to post: you can see one of her beautiful eyes and her ear that she will likely lose. This picture was taken just before unloading her upon arrival. We are all praying she isn’t pregnant, but it is possible. We will post a link to pictures tomorrow — I do believe that sharing her treatment and recovery process, even though it may be graphic, may help others in some way.
Like you, I’d like to know what excuse for a person let her stay like that for a week without vet care.
Honestly; I don’t think this is an issue of animal abuse; which is not to say that I don’t think these animals were not abused. The issue here is Livestock Abuse; Jerry’s private horses are in good shape, happy and healthy and well taken care of. These horses are not “personal horses” though; they are “livestock” in many eyes including Jerry. What made them livestock? We’ll never know; perhaps they were bred for meat, perhaps they had a career-ending injury, perhaps they were never trained but the sad fact is they went into that auction as horses and came out as “livestock”.
The sad fact is that we are okay with livestock abuse; from cutting beaks off baby chicks to feedlot cattle. These horses were treated exactly like feedlot cattle; trust me moldy hay isn’t really any good for them either. Routine care is not something we require of our livestock, necessarily, the supermarkets don’t care if they have a cold, a poor coat, broken painful feet. They also don’t care about the ones that don’t make it to market; the ones are starving to death because of some readily fixable ailment. An aborted calf in the field isn’t going to make anyone cry. Feedlots across the nation right now are keeping their livestock in exactly these conditions.
So the cure? America took a step and legislated no-slaughter; because people don’t want horses to be livestock. I don’t think that is ever going to happen, as long as there are trucks to ship across the border. Legislate no shipping for slaughter? Maybe.
I’d like to see us step up a bit on the treatment of livestock. Just my opinion, but it’s not enough to refuse to support these practices by not eating meat personally. I’d like to see us cut out the middleman, and make farming more profitable for ethical farmers. . . I’d like everyone who can afford it to stop buying meat at the supermarket, pick up a deep freeze and buy a cow from a farmer whose farming practices they approve of. Split one with your neighbours. It’s probably silly to think we could drive the feedlots out of business when there’s a McD’s on every street corner, but it’s a nice thought isn’t it?
I think the problem here is how dishonest the whole thing was. He didn’t claim he was doing it because they were “just livestock,” he was claiming that what he was doing was “just trying to save the horses’ lives.â€
Canadian feedlots will refuse horses in the condition of those on Hahn’s property. Let’s be real, there’s not enough meat on them to make steaks. So, either he’s shipping to Mexico where they don’t give a rip or he’s selling them black market somewhere within the US or he was “boarding” a buddy’s horses and didn’t give a shit if the “buddy” let them starve or not.
As a sidenote, any true livestock owner/farmer – be it beef cattle, sport cattle, laying hens, meat hens, meat goats, whatever – benefit from having properly vetted, vaccinated, dewormed, healthy livestock. To say that they aren’t treated well is a gross generalization of a small percentage. Growing up in and living in the heart of two different farm areas of the country, I can attest that family farmers do, in fact, care about the livestock they breed, raise, and sell. It is their livelihood, and when the animals prosper, so does the farmer.
So true. when our cows were getting to expensive to care for did we let them starve? did we put them back up for auction? no. we sold them to the guy who’s bull we were using for coverings. now, they are in a better place being baby mamas. they are healthy and happy.
This is absoulute BS “I was trying to save them” when you have a mare with an aborted foal that can’t get up. Honestly? he should take those words and shove em.
As a sidenote, any true livestock owner/farmer – be it beef cattle, sport cattle, laying hens, meat hens, meat goats, whatever – benefit from having properly vetted, vaccinated, dewormed, healthy livestock.
This I totally agree with!
To say that they aren’t treated well is a gross generalization of a small percentage.
This I could debate, ;P . I am still picking up cattle bones out of a pasture – it is approximately 8 acres and housed 300 calves from weanling to yearling four years ago. I’ve been trying to get it clean for a year.
Someone I know worked at a Corn Chip plant; every night a truck owned by a local feedlot came to pick up the ton of sweepings (chip crumbs, wood shavings, dirt, etc) for feed. Not pig feed. Cattle feed. It’s cheaper than grain, and more profitable in the long run.
Someone I know drives a rendering truck; picks up everything that is not fit for slaughter. Some of those are for legitimate reasons other than poor care. Many are not. But he’s not going to be short on overtime anytime soon.
Also, it’s easier to neglect more not less – from what I’ve seen “true livestock” owners own less, maybe just because they have more expenses, maybe because it’s easier to write off an animal as a loss when you have a larger herd. I dunno.
How significant is a “small percentage” anyway? How can people know? It’s hard to find facts on this matter, particulariy when I have nothing against a well managed maintained feedlot. . . “Super Size Me” terrified me at first with its facts, same as “Fast Food Nation”. . . This livestock mentality is going to hurt horses for a long time, and I don’t see any easy solutions.
Not sure of the actual numbers. In texas, all the feedlots ive been to have been well run, and surprisingly clean. the animals were well looked after, had better fencing than i do for my horses, and the animals looked well fed (exept for a few, which ahd just been delivered). I am usually on the cattleman’s side when it comes down to it.
OT again. Sorry.
Anybody looking for a polo horse? There is a mare (#496) in the killpen at Camelot in NJ. Ships Sunday (12/20) Here is the link. Scroll down.
http://forums.delphiforums.com/alexbrown/?msg=43669.70&post=y&guest=y
Cindy
Check out the latest from the Animal Legal Defense Fund: Kentucky is one of the five best states in which to be an animal abuser (and one of the five worst to be an animal).
Nelson County is legendary for corruption. As is Mercer County. As are many of the other counties. If you aren’t in the South and you don’t have any direct experience with the South it is hard to understand the incredible above-the-law power that the old-boy networks have. In Nelson County there is an “axis of evil” if you will between and among Jerry Hahn, Dean Watts and some others in political office. Hahn has been in trouble before and his buddy Dean managed to do the Teflon thing for his friend.
Supposedly there have been contacts made to high state officials who are declining to get “involved.”
The sad and shameful addition to this is that there are people posting on other forums and blogs that these people are fine upstanding citizens and the horses themselves are “just fine”. Based on what I’ve seen coming out of the woodwork in those internet posts, the average mentality there equates to hyenas.
I shudder to think I once planned on moving there.
And:
“the report recognizes the states where animal law has real teeth, and calls out those like Kentucky – the single worst in the nation again this year for animal protection laws”
Seems they’ve won this distinction more than once. Something to be Real proud of. I’m betting they win again next year thanks to the efforts of Jerry Hahn and his crew.
So what can we do????
Slightly OT, but someone finally drew up an ideal complaint form for this blog. I’m going to have to make a banner for it, but if anybody is unhappy with the content of this blog…
Here you go!
As for Mr. Hahn, like I say, it ain’t over…
Hilarious! Now I understand why it ot blocked at work…
If this doesn’t do anything else, I hope it tells everyone what could happen to a beloved horse that ends up run through a sale barn.
Does Kentucky have a State Department of Ag veterinarian?
http://www.kyagr.com/statevet/
I’m really not seeing the big deal here… I don’t see that this man has done anything wrong other than treating horses as (gasp) livestock!
You are apparently unaware of this, but there are laws that require humane treatment of livestock, too. When something cuts its foot off in a barbed wire fence, you MUST obtain veterinary attention, even if it’s eventually going to become a steak one way or the other.
I would be interested in seeing the wording of those actual laws. For many beef cattle the official treatment for those ailments is slaughter not months of doctoring a wound. (my frame of reference: grew up on a large commercial cattle ranch which served as the clinic base for my father’s large animal veterinary practice, so I have seen this many times)
To me, this looks like a pen of horses that were abandoned at the local sale barn and failed get a bid due to low body condition scores. The killer buyer didn’t even want them. Most sale barns (at least that I’m familiar with) have a loose horse policy that states that abandon horses will be disposed of and the owner charged a set fee. That disposal typically is in terms of giving the horse to the killer buyer or to another individual who will feed them up to slaughter weight. No one makes a promise that they will all be fully rehabbed and re-homed. No one promised stalls with extra bedding, warm blankets, special feed, etc… Just enough feed to get them to slaughter weight.
Would my personal horses ever look like this? NO! But then again HIS personal horses don’t look like this either. Why is all of this anger and angst not directed at the people who took these horses to the sale barn in this condition? Let’s face it, THEY are the ones that put them in the kill pen…
http://asci.uvm.edu/equine/law/cruelty/ky_cruel.htm
525.130(1)(a) – Failure to provide health care is a class A misdemeanor. Yes, it should be worse, as it is in other states. But still, it IS illegal. Failure to provide adequate food and drink is in there too. This goes for all animals – not just pets.
Sure, that requires a legal minimum level of care. YOU don’t determine that level of care. Our personal horses may receive many luxuries above the minimum but livestock are not granted all luxuries.
Well, duh. I don’t expect Mr. Hahn to get his horses massages like mine gets. Are you attempting to argue that not obtaining vet care when a cow cuts its foot off in a fence or a mare aborts her foal or a horse is a BCS score of 1is acceptable under this law? If so, I can’t fathom any justification for that interpretation. The part about health care is in there for a reason, and all three are cases where any reasonable person would believe veterinary care was necessary.
I would say that choosing to slaughter the cow with that injury would be acceptable. I personally know of a case locally that a milk cow sloughed a hoof (following a prolonged illness) and the vet recommended slaughtering her. A mare that is slaughter bound and slips a fetus; again I don’t see any reason to require veterinarian treatment. The primary reason for a mare to need veterinary attention would be to keep her breedable following that event and that isn’t an issue if she is slaughter bound… assuming that horse slaughter has the same dislike for slaughtering pregnant mares as cow plants have for pregnant cows, most would consider the loss of the foal a plus and move on. I think most people would realize that they needed veterinary help to rehab a horse that is in the 1s but I don’t think the goal here was to rehab these horses.
Maybe an outside source can put it in perspective for you, Why.
I own horses, and goats. People still eat goats, regularly. My goats either produce milk, meat, or they don’t stick around. However, my goats also are wormed, given vaccinations, and treated for any health issues. Even the future BBQ’s. They are expected to go through a withdrawal period for any treatments they are given, and they are expected to be slaughtered in good condition. As you yourself noted, if a health problem arises, then that goat is either treated, or put down, or slaughtered. However… in no area of law or nature is it okay to ‘think about what to do’ for days or weeks. If you deal in livestock, then you take care of the livestock. My goats end up, Milk or Meat, in someone else’s stomach. I had darn well better make sure I’m not poisoning or providing sickness through my management practices.
Switching the same idea to horses as livestock, there is no way you can justify taking the lowest, worst horses on, because they are ‘free’, just so you can make money. You don’t make money feeding up a poor animal. We ALL know that. It also isn’t fair to pick up five ‘free’ horses that are bone thin, throw them on a round bale in a mucky mess, and then sell the two that gained weight, while leaving the carcasses of the three who died down in ‘yonder crick’. It isn’t good farming sense, and it isn’t kind or ethical. Most dairy farms don’t even import their cows anymore, due to issues with diseases and stress to the cows. Yet this charming ‘livestock owner’ buys the crappiest horses he can get for cheap or free, throws them out into a poor situation, and calls himself a considerate man?
This isn’t livestock versus horse status. This is very simply someone who shouldn’t own anything. If you don’t want to consider a love of horses or the law, then consider that basic moral compass that says if we choose to put an animal in our care, ANY animal, then we must do the best we are capable of to care for that animal.
Oh, and my horses? They are currently standing on mud/frozen mounds (depends on the temperature) in their nasty looking mud paddock, and they haven’t had a brushing for a while, thanks to my work schedule. They HAVE, however, been wormed, they get grain as needed during cold/hot weather, and their feet are regularly trimmed. My goats are also in good shape. It’s basic husbandry. When you choose to put an animal under your care, you care for it. Or you come up with a really good reason why you can’t care for it. A mental capacity of a four year old might be a decent excuse. Being a County Magistrate, I’m gonna guess our buddy can’t claim to be mentally incompetent. Kinda scary to think someone like that makes legal decisions for others….
Slaughtering a cow that will never walk again: Fine. Dragging it around by the leg with a chain and a tractor while it’s still alive: Not.
Seriously, dude. I think you may be trying to sound cool by acting callous about animal welfare… but it just sounds cold. My grandparents were dairy farmers. NONE of their cows looked like those poor animals. Neither did their steers… which all went to slaughter. I grew up eating them. I never felt too bad about it, because I know they were well cared for when they were alive (although I admit to being a vegetarian now, because I really hate the taste and texture of meat). Just because they’re going to slaughter doesn’t mean you don’t feed them. Just because they’re going to slaughter doesn’t mean you let them suffer unnecessarily. The very fact that you think so makes me terribly suspicious about what kind of operation you grew up around. I think you can really judge people by how they treat their animals, whether those animals are pets or are being raised for consumptions. I’m sad for you and for your family if your comments truly reflect your beliefs.
what the hell is wrong with the state of KY????…I hate the “good ol’ boys” club…they should have a vigilante posse find them in a back alley somewhere late at night…gives a new meaning to “street justice”…arrogant bastards…the part that makes me the most angry is when Hahn is ranting about how he’s doing nothing wrong, and he says it like it’s no big deal…the arrogance is seeping out of his pores…I dispise arrogant people and would just LOVE to kick this guy in the nads and bring him back to reality…people with “good” jobs that get protected when they do wrong…makes me sick
I have to defend Kentucky. There is no more wrong here than in any other state.
This has been made public, people can make changes, so this is a first step. I surely hope the people in Nelson County make sure they remember this douchebag at election time, too.
Here a newspaper article that shows, that KY is working on changing:
http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story/Admitted-Cat-Killer-Sentenced/vctN-HuFfk22Dvtj-Ybeqw.cspx
I’m not JUST picking on KY…I just happen to have personal ‘experience’ with that state…Fugly just featured a thread on here about the “Field of Starvation’ woman Glenda Wright?…I’m the one from Ontario that is also featured in that thread about having to buy my mare back and the other 48 horses have been rescued just weeks ago…I’ve worked since April of this year to get my mare back…I know there’s other states out there that are JUST as bad…but like I said…I have had experience with KY
PonyFan summed it up well. Livestock vs. Domestic Pets and the treatment of both is the issue. We have turned horses into domestic pets. Yakima, for instance considers horses livestock, and if “range horses” (that’s when people dump them/turn them loose) wander onto your land, it’s up to you to fence them out. Animal control will not pick them up. The cattle farmers lease the state land during Spring/Summer/Fall, and remove their stock for Winter (duh…ground frozen solid). The horses stay, and potentially starve.
At least the cattle farmers round up their stock regularly and vaccinate, de-worm, and whatever else you do for a cow! The older, not-for-breeding-anymore heifers get taken to slaughter while they’re still in good weight, to maximize the dollar.
Yeah, I need to write a blog about what does and does not constitute basic humane care of an animal. I think it’d be a very interesting topic. For example, how much do you care (if at all), if you eat meat, about how the animal you eat lived and whether or not it suffered unnecessarily? Some folks care, some don’t.
IMO basic care of animal includes a constant source of water, perferable reasonably clean (clean enough that the animals don’t have to be desperate before they’ll drink); a good source of forage (hay or grass–hay, and possibly grain, if drylotted); a source of minerals/salt; shelter that’s species appropriate; and routine health maintenance care (vaccines, deworming, foot trimming, etc.). It makes sense to check livestock regularly to look for any issues (worminess, injuries, fly or other parasite problems, and so on).
As to your question about whether people who eat meat care about the life of the animal that supplied it, I think most people are so far removed from the reality of where their animal products come from that how that animal lived or died never even crosses their minds. To them, beef is the red stuff in foam trays and plastic wrap that they find in the local grocery store, where it sprang from nothingness into the grocer’s meat bins. Ditto for chicken or any other meat product. Some of them have never even *seen* meat on the hoof, so to speak.
One of the reasons the slow food and locally grown movements are gaining momentum is because at least some people are becoming more aware of the way livestock is treated in factory operations. I don’t eat much in the way of store bought meat. I raise sheep, so I eat a lot of lamb. If I have a great craving for beef, I prefer to buy locally grown so that I know where the animal lived and how it was raised. Chicken is the worst. If you can smell a chicken house from half a mile away on a summer’s day imagine what it must be like to be a chicken living *inside* one.
Anyway, to bring this back on topic, it makes no sense to starve horses that are destined for slaughter. I don’t see how anyone could make money off an animal that has no meat on its bones, even if they do consider the horses livestock and not pets. Most of those horses probably wouldn’t even survive the trip to a slaughterhouse. So where’s the business sense in that? Livestock that is feedlotted may not be kept in the best of conditions and the workers may not treat them humanely, but realistically the owner of those animals isn’t going to make any money if they don’t have something on them that can be turned into steaks, burger, chops, whatever. Starving animals are not going to make any seller a profit, so even if they are “only livestock” there’s no excuse to starve them or allow them to be sick or injured or anything else that would affect their ability to gain and keep on weight. (Note: I’m not saying I advocate feedlotting, and I certainly think factory farms are horrible, but the point is that if you look at it as a business and your profits come from selling meat, then having animals with no muscles = no meat = no money. That’s a pretty basic–no degree in rocket science needed to figure out that starving animals do not a profit make.)
It’s pretty interesting to see economics in action isn’t it? Lets talk the maths. Any idiot can tell you better care = better animals that sell for more money. But there’s the other costs involved, numbers are imaginary and relative.
Scenario: Animals for Slaughter, horses, cows, whatever. . .
Farmer 1 on has 100 head. So does Farmer 2.
Farmer 1 put in safe fencing – approx. cost $5000.
Farmer 2 loses 2 animals a year to the fence.
Farmer 1 feeds good feed – approx $10000 per year
Farmer 2 feeds bad feed – approx $5000 per year, loses 5 animals to bad hay.
Farmer 1 pays for good routine vet work $5000
Farmer 2 pays what he has to to get by $1000, loses 3 animals.
End of the year, farmer 2′s herd is worth $100 less per head.
Farmer 1 = 50000 (100*500) – expenses = $30000 profit
Farmer 2 = 36000 (90*400) – expenses = $30000 profit
Sure, Farmer 1 will show an even better profit next year when he doesn’t have to put in any more fence, but Farmer 2 isn’t doing so bad for himself, and I guarentee he has more free time. . . When you look at the whole business rather than an individual animal, how much profit are you willing to sacrifice for each life you save?
If each of Jerry’s horses was worth $50, (and more likely they were free because they were too skinny even to go to slaughter) and half of them could gain enough weight on $100 of bad hay to be sold to slaughter for $75, and half died, he had no profit loss except what it cost him to ship them. If his friend was providing the shipping because he had to fill his trucks anyway, it cost him nothing.
Actually, if Jerry bought 20 horses for $50 each, bought $100 worth of cheap hay, half of them died and he sold the remaining 10 for $75 each, he’s lost $350. Plus shipping (if any) and auction fees.
Your Farmer1 and Farmer2 analogy only makes sense if they’re only in business for one year. If they continue to raise cattle, farmer1 now has 100 cows and 100 calves. Farmer2 has 90 cows, 90 calves, a pasture with more parasites and less grass every year, and will continue to lose animals at an ever-increasing rate.
What an incredibly awful situation. How can he live with himself, knowing that horses on his property look like that, even if they aren’t his (unlikely in my opinion–far more likely his “friend” is imaginary)? Even as livestock, animals of any kind should live a comfortable, relatively worry free life up until the date of slaughter. These horses did not have that, obviously. I just can’t believe that someone could take good care of their horses, and simultaneously neglect other horses in his care just because they aren’t pets. Even from an economic standpoint, his own horses are probably more profitable for slaughter than the neglected ones. It’s not only criminal and disgusting, it’s also stupid and pointless. So sad… Makes me ashamed to call myself human.
Also, slightly off topic, I found this on Craigslist:
http://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/grd/1514393737.html
Someone please tell me I’m seeing thing and that these horses aren’t actually tied by their necks instead of a halter. Hope neither of thos boys strangle themselves before they change hands.
It does say they are used for hunting and packing. It may be they both have been trained to stand tied with only the neck tie. However, I agree that I DO hope they actually have those as solidly knotted neckropes, and not slip tied!
BWPBaby, it looks like they just threw the lead rope around their neck and clipped it on itself……. I hope one of ‘em doesn’t pull back…a disaster in the making! That Appy sure is cute, I hope someone nice gets them, otherwise, I hate to think where they are headed….
I think I am seeing a pattern forming. I have been watching, reading and monitoring some of the horse neglect situations in Kentucky, Iowa, Oregon (and some other states). There seems to be some striking similarities and what it seems to boil down to is this: when someone who is wealthy, connected, influential (or all of the above) the first thing they do when it looks like they are going to be exposed to either (a) the law or (b) the media (or both of the above) is arrange to have the evidence “destroyed.” This happened with the Pease Saddlebred situation where a wealthy and influential well-connected contractor in Mercer County, Kentucky, when learning that he was at long last actually going to be visited by the formerly uninterested authorities, shot horses in their stalls and had them removed. Now don’t get all over my case: shooting your horse is not illegal, esp. in Kentucky. But shooting the horses (esp. in their stalls, how unbelievably STUPID and probably speaks to incompetence in death delivery by bullet as well) to destroy evidence of neglect and abuse and avoid criminal charges – that IS the issue. In this Hahn case once Hahn learned that there was an uprising and the jungle drums of the internet were going to beat out an anti-Hahn message, he made quick work of GETTING RID OF the evidence. This is a tool that seems to be becoming popular and is designed to put a chill on anyone trying to get help for animals: “go public, complain, or look crosseyed and hey we’ll just kill them in the worst way possible.”
I would love to know what TB Friends, Fugly, NorCal and others have seen and would love to see this question posted on ABR: has anyone else noticed this pattern?
He’ll get away with it. Guys like him always do.
Sunnvalleysally,
you sound surprised. Why wouldn’t they get rid of the evidence. They might be animal abusers, but that doesn’t make them stupid.
I am not surprised because yes indeed they are “stupid.” Too stupid to figure out there are worse consequences if caught destroying evidence of a felony. Too stupid to figure out that they are breaking the law in the first place and too stupid to care about other living creatures and too stupid to figure out how they are going to be viewed by most of the people whom they hope will elect them to another opportunity to swill from the public trough. What they also are is ARROGANT. In that they think WE are too stupid to figure out what they are doing!
This has been a very interesting topic for me to follow as a person who grew up with horses as tools required in running a cattle operation… Since leaving the ranch, I have the spoiled horses who don’t work for their meals and this has been a huge paradigm shift in my life.
However, I remember growing up in a very remote area and my dad insisting that all sick, lame, or skinny cattle (or horses) be housed completely out of sight of the road. Similarly all dead carcasses were quickly drug to the back pasture where no one could see them. All of this was to insure that the “animal rights nut jobs†couldn’t see them and complain about the care of the animals on the ranch. When I say that we were very remote I mean that we were at least 15 miles from a paved road and MUCH farther into a town of any size. So I grew up thinking that these “animal rights nut jobs†were the rancher’s equivalent of the boogie man and that they didn’t really exist… Then I started reading this blog!
I had one of those moments where I thought “OMG! They DO exist!†And based on the comments of one well-meaning, idealistic woman people are stalking this man! They are driving by his property. Taking video/pictures. Calling Animal Control. Contacting local media outlets. Lamenting the condition of horses that were very obviously recently acquired. Even making points of completely ridiculous “issues†like the sale barn tags that are still attached to these animals. And the discussion wouldn’t be complete without pointing to the dangerous barbed wire fencing (because we all know that if a horse walks close to a barbed wire fence they become instantly entangled).
And all of this is most likely happening simply because these horses were too thin to ship to slaughter. If they would have been up to slaughter weight they would already have been shipped and no one in the FHOD universe would have even known about it!
Okay, I have to refute this.
First of all, cows, as ruminants, are less picky feeders than horses and more tolerant of bad provender (In fact, some people rotate a few cattle, goats or sheep into their horse pastures because it prevents the risk of ‘horse sickness’…when the horses have eaten all the stuff they like and the stuff they don’t like takes over). That hay in that field does not appear to be fit to feed horses. I can’t personally judge whether it’s fit to feed cows, but I know that I wouldn’t feed it to *anything*.
Second of all, I don’t know what kind of ranch you grew up on, but would you on the range have left a stillborn calf out in the field? I’d bet the answer is heck no! There’s nothing like a stillborn calf to attract coyote, feral dog, whatever else in the way of predators you might have around, and the condition those horses are in…yeah.
Third of all, well cared for cattle produce better tasting beef. Cattle that are not treated humanely don’t produce beef you would want to eat. The same goes for horse meat for human consumption…and I wouldn’t feed what little meat is left on those horses to a dog after the way they’ve been treated.
In short. This would be JUST as wrong if they were beef steers intended to be killed and eaten. There is no excuse for this level of neglect. I would have no problem if the person had these horses on grass, with quality hay and safe fencing and had removed the slipped foal before it attracted predators or disease. Given they still have the tags on them, ‘Well, I just picked them up from the auction’ would be a reasonable excuse for their condition…if it looked like he was doing anything ABOUT their condition. They’re not in meat condition let alone anything else.
>They are driving by his property. Taking video/pictures. Calling Animal Control.
People collecting evidence of animal neglect and abuse and calling an agency that is supposed to deal with animal neglect and abuse so they can prove it? That’s just insane! There must be crack involved! How dare the animal rights weirdos interfere with Mr. Hahn’s business! Surely 1/3 of the herd will survive and blossom from skeletal to severely underweight so they can be shipped to slaughter and earn him $100/head. ZOMG THAT’S $600! And what if the bad publicity causes him to lose his job as an elected offical?! Look at what happened to Michael Vick. Those dogs weren’t pets, they were financial assets. People can’t electrocute their pit bulls or starve meat horses these days without all the damn hippies raising a ruckus. If I were Jerry Hahn, I’d get my shotgun and those animal rights people to get off my prop-ty!
The question I have for you is this: if the sick, skinny, etc., animals were housed out of sight of the animal rights nutjobs was that because your dad didn’t want them seem *even though* they were being taken care of and returned to health or was it because they were being warehoused out of sight so they could just struggle along on their own till they died?
I personally believe that even if I’m raising sheep who are destined for slaughter (and I am) they deserve to live healthy and stress-free lives and not be exposed to unnecessary suffering. If I could make just as much money with bad husbandry as I could with good, then I guess my conscience and moral sense would require me to provide good husbandry. And in fact, if providing good husbandry means I’ll make a little less money, then I would take a little less money because it’s the moral and ethical thing to do.
Why says:
“Even making points of completely ridiculous “issues†like the sale barn tags that are still attached to these animals.”
That would be referring to my comment:
“A blind person could see what was happening there wasn’t ’saving’ those horses. Who ’saves’ a horse and then doesn’t even bother to take the auction sticker off it???”
I was pointing out when people actually save horses, (which is what Jerry Hahn claimed) generally the first thing they do is inspect them to check for injuries, lice, rain rot etc. and take the tags off them. Not removing the tags just screams a total lack of interest in the horses to me. The conditions they were kept in is enough confirmation that he was not ‘saving’ them and it appears the only thing about them that interested him was whether he could make $$$ out of them.
Regarding treating them as livestock, I wouldn’t care what they were, cattle, sheep, pigs etc. keeping starving animals in bad conditions, with inadequate feed is NOT ACCEPTABLE!
There is a difference between horses and cattle. Cattle are deliberately bred to be both stupid and insensitive. It makes them easier to handle. Obviously, horses are bred for a working relationship with humans, which means they must be sensitive, and have at least some intelligence.
Of course I am in favor of humane treatment of animals. The cattle industry has a few areas where they could improve. But treating horses like cattle is far less humane, because of their increased sensitivity and intelligence.
And many things are judged inhumane just based on appearances. Which would you rather have, de-beaked poultry, or poultry pecking each others’ eyes out? Sure, I’d rather have free-run, organic meat – but do you know how much space that takes up? Not to mention the complaints you get from your neighbors about smell and noise, once the first subdivision goes up next door? Many small farmers have been forced out of business simply because their land was annexed into a municipality with laws against poultry and farm animals. Or, if they were “grandfathered,” by lawsuits about noise & smells.
And most “free-run” chickens are in a building with one small (chicken-sized) door to the outside. They stay inside, because that’s where the food is. Whoopee.
As for Jerry Hahn, well, the people of Kentucky need to band together and throw out that “good ole boy” network. And Hahn should be sent to Arizona – to Sheriff Arpiao’s lovely tent prison.
Ruthie, controlling the fist of death
Another disgusting, miserable human being! He is a magistrate for gosh sakes, there are plenty of people who would love his job, and perform all of the duties involved, without breaking laws on the DL..
If paper back writer is right….
is the area (sorry about the long link) I thought it was interesting to see…
google
if she is right, this is him? and he is a maestro so maybe they know each other? i think so…
http://www.uky.edu/CommInfoStudies/JAT/Journalism/FacultyStaff/Buck.html
even has a twitter…
http://twitter.com/MaestroBuckRyan
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/buck-ryan/14/8a4/57
apparently he is nice
http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=291735
Not giving adequate medical treatment to any living being to alleviating suffering is ethically wrong. What purpose that being serves to us has nothing to do with standards of basic care. Steak or show horse, doesn’t matter.
And for those that say, well who cares if the mare gave birth to the foal, she’s just garbage anyway, is it still responsible husbandry to leave a dead animal where it fell? It’s not even good sanitation, that’s how dread diseases spread.
It’s pretty clear the horses weren’t being cared for, whatever the reason. It’s on his farm, it’s his responsibility. Excuses aren’t a justification for doing the wrong thing.
The biggest flaw I see with his “I saved them” statement, is the fact that he’s an elected official. I’m sure if he was saving horses, he would have been blabbing about how great he was for saving horses, BEFORE all this happened, not when the news got a hold of the story. Last time I checked, Horses are to Kentucky as beaches and pot are to California. Would you want to use the fact that horses appeal to your voters and get your rescuing activities in the lime light as much as possible?
He’s a politician: He’s a professional bullshitter. The fact that he thinks anyone will believe a thing he says in a situation like that astounds me.
If you ask me, this stinks of buying horses for meat, especially if those were in fact his horses up the road as he claimed. No legitimate rescue in their right mind would buy that many horses in that poor a condition all at once, I don’t care how much funding you have. Unless you have A LOT of volunteers or employees, one or two people could not possibly take care of those horses properly in that condition of health. Just because you can pay all the vet/care bills for that many sick emaciated horses, don’t mean you have the man power to do it. Whether he decided to try his hand at meat buying, or he’s assisting this “friend” of his he claims the horses belong to, he still deserves to have the book thrown at him. At a public official I believe his sentence should be tougher than usual. If the government wants to see less cases like this and save themselves money on confiscating horses and expensive court proceedings, they need to throw the book at this guy and make an example of him. I think the reason people continue to starve horses like this is because they just get a slap on the wrist for this kind of shit.
So Jerry, who is this supposed friend you are keeping the horses for?? Huh? Huh? What no answer? I thought so! I hope you choke on your lying ass tongue!
Does anyone who reads this blog who is in the Southeast who knows anything about the “Boones Trail Rides” or “Boones Rides” run by a “Charlie Boones”? Rumor has it (check the Topix blogs) that Hahn had a little problem on one of those rides a while back and reportedly beat his horse to death or close to it. This is second hand info, obviously so really would like to know if that rumor is true! I take it these are Kentucky-based trail rides? Any trailriders out there who know of these rides? Not sure if they are competitive or just for fun semi-organized rides.
Anyone?
I’d also like to hear the “Sonny McCubbins” story, a guy who allegedly had 5 horses stolen by Jerry Hahn.
The Ryan Brothers are the largest horse slaughter dealers in the state of Kentucky. That is what they are known for. Anyone who is involved in horses in Kentucky knows their reputations. Jerry Hahn was trying to fatten these horses up for the Ryans so they could be taken to slaughter. My guess is either Hahn bought them at auction, or is in cahoots with the Ryans to fatten them for slaughter.
It would be the latter. And I’m told Ryan shipped them all to kill today. Trying to confirm.
I’m gonna throw out one sorta argument against something I keep seeing.
Everyone keeps saying, “He obviously just bought them; they still are wearing sales tags.”
I don’t know what it’s like in other places, but here in Indiana, you can’t hardly get those tags off with turpentine and a blow torch (No, I’m kidding, I never did this). Point is, those horses may have been sold at sale literally a couple months or more before now. I’ve heard there is a special solution used to remove the tags and glue, but I don’t know what it is– I’ve always ended up just cutting the tags out. I left one in once, and it stayed a month before I lost my patience and cut it off.
Fortunately it’s not like that in Washington. They pull off pretty easy!
OMG! Butthurt! Thanks for the laugh.
Just a question….do all those laws apply to feedlots? (might’ve missed something here). So if someone does know where the horses are…why can’t they be confiscated from there? It would seem that they would be held to the same standards as Mr. Hahn.
Another question…can’t Hahn be subpoenaed to reveal the location of the horses? Or is it not an “official” pending case? I think an atty needs to volunteer to represent those horses and or the rescue group (or at least give guidance) that was initially involved. Ok..I know easy to say….just a thought though.
Oh and for more info on Ladybug…I looked it up…very sad…but hopefully it called attention to…another…drum roll here….Hoarder (um…”alleged” hoarder) and the situation can be dealt with.
Musings From the Judge’s Box
http://openhorseshowjudge.blogspot.com/
Why, I used to work as an Animal Welfare Officer. Seeking vet care may mean a lengthy rehab, but also acceptable is shooting or euthing the animal. Most commercial slaughterhouses don’t accept downed (hooveless, for example) cows, they can only euth them and render them. No real money in that, obviously. A private butcher could be called out, but the kill fee probably keeps a jerk like Hahn from utilizing that resource.
Why, the issue here is not whether the animals are slaughter bound. It is whether inhumane treatment is acceptable for slaughter bound animals. If a cow or horse is being starved or is suffering from a painful injury, it should be killed promptly and humanely and counted as a loss, or it should be cared for appropriately.
If Hahn had decent hay, and plenty of water, and none of the animals were in pain preventing them from eating until they were in decent weight, no one would have brought this to our attention. Alternately, if the auction had euthed or shot the animals and called the rendering truck to haul them off, this would not have blown up.
It is the prolonged suffering of many animals in a vague hope that most could ship for slaughter eventually that has so many people up in arms. Maybe you grew up hiding lame, sick and injured livestock from the road; was the goal to get them healthy enough to slaughter or were they slaughtered right away? Because with your experience you KNOW those horses were not going to recover from their respiratory illness and pick up weight and get slaughter-ready in that pen. Please. This is not a conspiracy here, it is common sense and basic humane instincts prevailing.
Ok. so I have to say something.
Who leaves auction tags on ?
No rescue would take in that many emaciated horses it would take more than two people to care for that many?
What?
NorCal Equine Rescue does this exact same thing all the time. They don’t even bother to seperate the new auction horses from horses already there. Quarantine , what is that? They all go into the same pens fed one flake a hay a day regardless of what condition they are in. Auction tags? The two people who run that dump are in their early twenties and too lazy to even water the horses let alone feed more than once a day , take auction tags off or do anything with them at all unless it’s for the blog.None of the people they list as staff are still there they all left disgusted . Yet people think they are a real rescue . LOL!. Hahn needs to get them to do his spin maybe he would look like a hero too.
What is your evidence for the accusations you make against NorCal Rescue?
Come on Bluepony- step up to the plate. What reason do you have to make a ridiculous accusation such as this about Norcal? I’ve been there – what you say is wrong and a lie. So – fess up about why you have a personal problem with Norcal.
“but I’m just holding them for a friend!”
LOL this is the same excuse I used in gr. 8 when my mom found my smokes……
You liar
Yep! It sounds like some drunk guy on “Cops” … no, ossifer, that’s not my weed. That’s my BUDDY’S weed.
Jerry Hahn was interviewed on a local AM radio station this morning, a call-in show (WBRT). Only callers supportive of him were “allowed” on the air.
So far other media has stayed far away from this either in the first place or refusing to do any follow-up of the initial report (one tv station WHAS11, and one newspaper, Nelson County Gazette). Inquiries to both have been ignored.
I love me some steak but I don’t go for any type of animals being neglected or abused in any way shape or form. I grew up on a cattle farm in Illinois and the animals were well cared for with vaccinations, dewormings, vet care or euthanasia if necessary. It was money on the hoof and sickly, thin cattle don’t make a profit. It’s just good business practice.
I really don’t see how those poor sickly creatures in the videos were going to make Mr. Hahn much of a profit. Just senseless all the way around.
And I hear ya about the auction tags. I bought a little mare at an auction last year and I swear they used some sort of industrial strength adhesive to put the dang thing on her (that’s really great especially on a horse that isn’t too happy about having it’s butt messed with). I finally soaked it with baby oil and a couple days later I was able to use the shedding blade to remove some of it, then I soaked it with baby oil again and couple days later the rest of it just fell off. Crazy.
okay, i have had enough of being branded an animal rights nut job because i care about a creature being treated decently. i too grew up on a farm-in kentucky. i eat meat, yep, love a big ole juicy steak. i do, however, raise my own, i don’t want knuckle dragging cretins torturing my dinner before it gets to me. i eat eggs, have my own chickens. my animals are cared for in a safe sane manner. just cause my father and his father were barbaric morons about animal care doesn’t make it right. some family traditions are meant to be left behind. i hope i am some evil asshole’s boogyman, every low, lying, self-absorbed, punk-ass deserves a boogyman and i will proudly wear that badge. i sincerely hope hell is a place where these people, and those that defend/hide/help them get their just rewards, maybe they too can be “rescued”, fed substandard food, slop around in sh*t and end up being stabbed repeatedly in a mexican slaughter plant. that’s WHY.
This just in, the follow up story from the Nelson County Gazette who heard the WBRT radio talk show interview of Hahn this morning. Here’s how to find it (copy and paste into your browser): http://www.nelsoncountygazette.com/2009/december/hahnresponds.html
You know this makes me want to go buy some new wellies because the BS is getting soooooo deep.
Wahhh…big, freakin’ cry baby… “I was just trying to bring them back alive.” Yeah, so they could be sent back to the slaughter man. I bet he didn’t lose a minute’s sleep over this whole thing. Scumbag.
The GOB’s make me puke. No one will ever “catch” this guy. He’ll get away with it again and again, just like his neighbors in TN get away with torturing Walking Horses.
How sickening. Love the big, fake, shit-eating grin on his face in this article, compared to his demeanor in the other interview with the newscrew.
Sure, there may well have been a big pile of beautiful hay and a spring (may even have been the fountain of youth) for them to get water over the hill—but “over the hill” sure looked fenced off by barbed wire.
I noticed he doesn’t mention anything about the dead fetus left in the mud, or explain away why he was dragging a crippled cow through the mud with a chain and tractor.
Love his consistency:
“He said he would never mistreat a horse, and that he’s taken in many horses over the years to save their lives.”
then
“I don’t want anybody else to put any more thin animals on my place,” he said. “I would rather have them stay where they’re at and starve to death.”
What happened to all that compassion?
Wonder if this lying SOS would be willing to undergo a polygraph test? Not a chance.
Yep… People dump off 20 horses on my property all the time and I never see or hear a thing.
If he was helping somone out then how come the horses disappeared over night? If thatswas all he was doing then I would think he would have kept the horses their. I think he just took out his good horses and boarded them down the road or bought them recently to cover up the mess he created. if you are not guilty then why hide the horses? He should be able to the owner of the horsess and where they went or at least have a quess to where they went in such a hurry. I would think that they would be keeping an eye on his property then. What about the cows? cant the spca or whatever unit htey have in some areas go in disquise and act like they are interested in purchasing what ever animal they may have. Then that person would admit that its their animal and wont be able to weasle out of the ownership ofthe animals.
Hi everybody. I wanted to share the opinion of Hahn’s vet Copied from the Kentucky Standard
Letter: Center of issue is well-being of horses
By Ed Hall, DVM
To the editor:
I want to compliment Frank Johnson for accurately reporting the issues surrounding the “inhumane treatment of horses†last week. It is critical to this issue that my comments are those of a horse owner and veterinarian with 64 years of horse experience and not as a representative of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. This is a complex issue and too often the actions of well intended people can produce unintended consequences. There have been many cases of starvation of farm animals in the last three years and an increase in the number of horses affected. This increase in the number of starved farm animals coincides with the law that closed all of the equine slaughter facilities inside the U.S. borders.
Many times the owners are uneducated about the nutritional requirements of a horse resulting in a lack adequate feed. Sometimes people lose the economic capability to buy the feed needed, or unfortunately some just don’t care. Regardless, the center of this issue should be the well-being of the horse. Sometimes what a horse is fed or how it is cared for, confined or maintained seems to be more important than the animal surviving. The end result for an indication of rehabilitation having been accomplished should be an animal that gains weight and lives in an acceptable environment.
Feed management of these starved horses is a point of concern. There has not been enough extensive research about this issue to provide unquestionable recommendations about what feed sources are appropriate. Those who have experience in dealing with these horses report that it takes two-three weeks before signs of improvement become noticeable. The critical issues are adequate hay and energy sources. Many researchers recommend small amounts of hay six or more times a day. Much controversy can occur about what is appropriate and what is not, but without research to validate all of these issues all of this boils down to individual opinion.
If all of the “whistle blowers†could join together, discover the facts in each case and work toward what is best for the horse and not what they think is someone’s intended outcome, great strides can be achieved. More than one person has been so criticized that they have stopped trying to rehabilitate these starved animals. Case in point: It is reported that five of the horses involved in Nelson County last week were euthanized and will never have a chance to recover.
I have been amazed at the various ways people can approach a situation and achieve the desired results. I have observed methods “outside the box†that work for one person, but may be totally offensive to someone else. If an animal is rehabilitated and returned to positive performance capability, I consider it being a success story.
Ed Hall, DVM
2827 Templin Ave.
Bardstown
The horses were taken to Buck and Tim Ryan’s in Hardin County (Hahn’s associates) well known kill buyers. Animal Control (Hardin County) was there to inspect the horses the Ryan’s (obviously trying to look good) paid for 5 of the worst to be put down and the rest received vaccines. no plans to ship at the time. They were in a barn, water, and hay provided. AC scheduled a follow up for 2 weeks (which has passed) I have not heard any other news.
Although this topic has died down I am still very much involved and even though I am just a regular gal, darnit Ima gonna git sum’in dun!!!!
HUMANE LOBBY DAY 2010 Capitol Rotunda – Frankfort Thursday, February 18th, 2010 Rally and Press Conference 1pm in Capitol Rotunda Agenda 10:00 a.m. – Noon Meet with your legislator Noon – 12:45 p.m. Break for Lunch 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Rally and press conference 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Follow-up Anyone can attend this lobby day! I
I am also going to the Bullitt County stockyards (Where he got the horses and the Ryan’s stomping grounds) to try my best to get some of these horses out of harms way.
I set up a facebook cause for this (no donations) “save kentuckys horse”s I am following the lead of “NJ killpen horses”
The next sale is Jan 11 the sales are on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month
I gave the news paper 4 pictures of hahns horses off my memory card and they conveniently took a picture of my well cared for adopted horse on the front page..so nobody that read the paper really got to see the condition of the lot and fewer saw the inside of the barn. The Nelson County Gazzette is the best source of news around these parts. I dont even read the Standard anymore.
http://www.nelsoncountygazette.com/
Opinion: Editorial judgment vs. the media’s duty to inform the public
Monday, Dec. 21, 2009, 1 p.m. – Today, Jim tackles the question: Does a newspaper do its readers a real service (or show editorial bias) by replacing the wrong photo that ran in print and online with a photo cropped so much it loses its original meaning? Click here to read Jim’s musings in The Editor’s Notebook.
After I called the newspaper late Saturday night to inform them that they put my horse on the front page the paper decided to crop a photo to put on the internet. This newspaper shows pictures every week of dead deer with the proud hunter, so its not a matter of being sensitive to the readers. It was being sensitive to hahn.
This is an article about Jon Ryan ACO~ Truth is the County Judge Executive Dean Watts threatened Jon’s job if he didnt leave Hahn alone.
Animal control officer questions why magistrate moved horses so quickly Friday, Dec 18, 2009, 11:55 p.m. — The animal control officer who Magistrate Jerry Hahn said didn’t properly handle an investigation into Hahn’s alleged mistreatment of horses on his Wilkerson Road farm responded in an interview broadcast during the 5 o’clock newscast on Bardstown’s WBRT. Jon Ryan, a former Nelson County deputy sheriff and an animal control officer, said he was only doing his job by investigating the complaints about the horses on Hahn’s farm. He questioned Hahn’s motive for moving the animals so quickly when their plight began to attract attention. Click here to read the Gazette’s story.