Justice Updates!
Apr 19 2011
Some news I wanted to share about a couple of previous blog stories…
They finally convicted and sentenced Trina Kenney. Wow. What a long road that has been. (My blog on her here). The people I really have to applaud here are those who were defrauded, who refused to let this go. They ran all over the Internet and made sure as many people as possible knew about Trina and what she was doing. This story is sure to make every sleazy horse dealer in America stand up and take notice. It really isn’t legal to lie about and misrepresent horses! I know you have all been getting away from it forever, but people are getting smarter and less willing to be victimized, so if you don’t want 41 months in jail and a fine of over $270K, you might think about inserting a little more honesty into your dealings.
Robin Vess (original blog story here) is back in court arguing that her trial wasn’t faaaaaaair. Her lawyer says her previous lawyer sucked (they all say that) and that a witness against her had a “vendetta” against her. So what? Unless you are alleging that the witness lied on the stand, who cares if she hated Robin? I hate everybody like Robin, who lets horses starve. I think that’s normal.
Speaking of people who let horses starve, James Leachman (original blog here was trying to get a public defender to represent him. What a joke! This comes right after he bought back about 70 of his horses at the auction after they were seized, at a cost of over $35,000! Fortunately, the court told him to STFU and pay his legal fees like everyone else. What a loser.
And just in a bit of other news, check out this stupid bitch in Wisconsin who has now spent EIGHT YEARS trying to sue for “civil rights violations” after police had to seize her emaciated 32 year old mare. Eight years! Kelly Mahnke, guess what? You were wrong. You were wrong eight years ago and you are still wrong. Now you have spent God only knows what in legal fees, and you are still wrong. Oh well, at least you have helped the economy by keeping your lawyer and his staff busy…I hope your current horses aren’t starving to death in the meantime while you pay your legal bills, though!
Apparently all the horses in the Kempf case (original blog here) have been transferred to Donna Ewing of HARPS. News story. While I am NOT a Donna fan given her pro-slaughter stance, nor do I think that getting horses to lead in a week is a sign that you are a “horse whisperer” (really? You REALLY used that term?), I know that many of you (me too) were concerned about whether the original rescue had the resources/knowledge to deal with these horses, so this is probably a good thing for them. I do believe they’re much safer now in terms of getting feeding, vet care, hoof care, etc. – I just wish Donna would stop buying into that pro-slaughter bullshit that the problem is that we closed the U.S. slaughterhouses. Does this woman ever go to auctions? You can still dump a horse, the same as you always could. Happens every day. If you have an update on someone previously featured here, please share — everybody loves to hear that our court system is working!
81 comments to “Justice Updates!”
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I am saddened about the Leach buying back those horses and not suprised by the report in the Billings Gazette…he walked in with his cashiers check, walked back out and just opened the gate to the pen they were in and let them back out on the same land they were gathered from. What an arrogant ass.
Wish one those horses would kick him in the head so hard he’d be turned into a vegetable.
How many years do you give him until those 70 turn back into 800?
How can he do that? He no longer owns the place….
You have to get into their mind. W/ him it’s arragance. He believes that his “special” horses have been wrongfully taken. And that because his “special” horses roamed the land that had been “wrongfully” taken from him. So he thinks if he puts his horses back than he’ll own the land again…… He’s full of himself. This happens from time to time w/ narcisistic people. “Oh you mean I have to pay my morgage if I want to keep my house? You just simply didn’t give it to me?” Kind of mortality with these people. He was warned what would happen if he didn’t sell his “special” horses and pay up. And so he had the consequence of having his animals taken and his “ranch” auctioned off. Essentially he’s throwing himself to the ground like a 2 year old and screaming how life is sooooo not fair. He’s rebelling. I’m hoping the owners called the cops for him tresspassing on their property and he has his self centered ass thrown in the slammer for awhile. Probably won’t happen…..
That update about the Leach pisses me off. They should have just taken his money and then picked him up by the scruff of the neck and thrown him off the property. WTF is wrong with this country?
On the other hand, the first update about Trina made me giggle with glee… Yay!!
http://36andsingle.blogspot.com/
Seeing all these people brought to justice reminds me…
I am looking for a trainer who goes/went by the name ‘Anne Ledada’ or something similar to that. I’ve been searching for her for years with all sorts of different spellings to no avail… anyone ever heard of her? She mostly did WP and Horsemanship/Showmanship and was in Tampa-area Florida in the ’90′s… she was apparently quite well-known back then. Any leads at all would be appreciated
I REALLY wish I remembered where I read it because I recall being shocked when I did read it so it may have been Dressage today, but there was a blurb in an article in something I was reading about how many unwanted horses we have no in the US because of the close of the slaughter plants. Boy was I pissed!
I don’t think that horses going to slaughter are really wanted, do you?
Update: It WAS Dressage today, which is why I was shocked and pissed off. March 2011 issue, page 17 “Ringside News”.
“New studies from the Journal of Animal Science on unwanted horses reveals the total has reached some 100,000 horses per year. Researchers based their findings on the effects of closing equine slaughter facilities in the United States in 2007 but also say the recent economic downtown (sic) has contributed to a sharp increase in the number of unwanted horses throughout the country. You can read the full report at the website list.aaep.org/60957/304619/91323/0/0 ”
You know, we’re all stupid. Really, we are. Here we all thought that the problem with unwanted horses was because people were breeding everything that could be bred because it was pretty, a “unique” color, because they felt their horses was too nice not to breed or because they were too cheap/lazy to have their stallion gelded and/or invest in appropriate fencing. Or because they were too cheap to provide a retirement home. The REAL reason is because the slaughter plants shut down. I feel so foolish now, it was right in front of my face.
ASSHATS.
This will spark a letter to the editor from me for sure!
The website listed on article you cite is from AAEP (American Association of Equine Practitioners), a group that is pro-slaughter. They also had that vet, Tom someone or other, speaking about the benefits of slaughter — he spoke at the recent convention where the pro-slaughter folks met. (I’m just a font on non-information this morning. Coffee hasn’t kicked in yet and it’s still dark outside). Anyway, I subscribe to The Horse magazine (have done so for years) and I get their e-newsletters (some daily, some weekly, all valuable) and on one of the newsletters is a spot where non-profit rescues can advertise a horse available for adoption.
In my view it’s “too little” and for many horses “too late,” but better than a poke in the eye.
I disagree with a lot of Dressage Today’s editorial policies and there are some issues I know I can file away without close reading because they deal with topics I’m not particularly interested in (Baroque horses, for one; para-dressage, for another — not that these aren’t viable interests, but just not on the top of MY lists), but having them quote from AAEP is more a springboard for discussion rather than their own view of slaughter. At least so far there has been no discussion even in letters to the editor about horse slaughter.
And I would also like to add. How silly of me to think that race horses that break down don’t end up in slaughter. Or some thugs stole a 6 year old’s pony to make some quick $$$. My my my. How delusional I have been *head desk*. Of course go with the economical angle. Don’t look at the REAL reasons. Just go with people losing their jobs and can’t feed their horses. It has nothing to do with a BYB breeding fuglies, some red neck thinking their creating a new “breed”, lazy jack asses that are too lazy to halter train a foal and now has a wild one to deal with. As well as the kool kolor breeders (ahh who cares about conformation the color will make me $$$$), lazy stallion owner, as well as people too cheap to provide retirement for their horse that packed them safely around the ring. Ugh. Someone can hit this author with a 2×4 and knock the crap out of his head right? Didn’t even bothing looking for other causes. Makes me sick. NOT A NEWS ARTICLE.
Wait kates_aiden before you (deservedly) bitch-slap someone. I read most of the paper,
http://jas.fass.org/cgi/content/full/88/12/4142?maxtoshow=&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=horse&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT
(that’s the Journal of Animal Science, where most land grant universities post their animal-related research)
and I would have titled any article I had written “What makes a Successful Horse Rescue Successful.” Staff members at UC Davis interviewed and surveyed 144 IRS compliant rescues, trying to determine board member salaries, funding sources, what kind of horses they get, adoption rates, number of animals euthanized, role of law enforcement, etc. Pretty interesting stuff.
It looks like the Dressage Today folks cut and pasted part of a press release and never read the paper.
Of course, if you’d like to bitch-slap the former owners of the 28.6% of horses (80/280) (that) had a BCS of 1 to less than 3, I’d be more than willing to hold them for you.
Glad there is some good news updates!
Regarding the slaughter situation – has the welfare issue not worsened since the US slaughter houses shut down? Don’t the same horses still go to slaughter, but now face longer and more arduous journeys to Mexico/Canada and then get dispatched in a worse way (I still have a disbelief issue, in the UK horses get humanely dispatched, no slitting of throats!!)? I mean, wouldn’t it be preferable to have more local slaughter houses and cut out the horrendous journey? This is what is being campaigned for in Europe, to stop the journey time, not the slaughter itself? It would be wonderful if they didn’t go to slaughter, but that’s not going to happen at this stage, we can hope – but it seems to me, as an outsider looking in, that the banning of slaughter in the US has had massive unintended consequences and worsened the welfare of the horses still going to slaughter?
Genuine question, and I know that a lot of the pro-slaughter people are not nice at all!!!
Nx
I think slaughter is worse in Mexico, actually it’s better in Canada, than it was in the U.S. – strictly in terms of the cruelty level of the slaughterhouses.
No, I do not think that overall the welfare of the horses going to slaughter has worsened. A double decker ride to Texas or Mexico is about the same. What has worsened is the last 10 or 15 minutes of the horse’s life if they are sent to Mexico instead of Canada. The way they kill them in Mexico is appalling.
Ah – I think I’m stuck in British distances – I was assuming, wrongly (?) that there were local slaughter houses, so there weren’t the same long distances travelled. So it figures that if the journey times are similar nothing really has changed other than the dispicable method of dispatch in Mexico.
So one solution would be for local slaughter houses – is this what the pro-slaughter people are asking for? (Surely they can’t want the long journeys??)
I’m sort of pro-slaughter in the UK with local slaughter houses, but mainly to mop up results of indiscriminate breeding!! Ideally our Hunts would do the same job, but unfortunately they are castrated these days with the ban on hunting AND the stupid EU rules on how animals are rendered which makes it very expensive and difficult to do. At base I’m anti slaughter, I just have a streak of practicality and realism about the situation *as it stands*.
The fate of European horses in transport across so many countries is a real issue, some things are helping but there still needs to be a lot of lobbying to help even more.
Europe is just so different. There’s a big difference between taking your one horse to the butcher shop and having someone shoot it in the head as opposed to taking your horse to a huge plant where he’s run into chutes with a hundred other horses that day and bitten, kicked, and terrified as he’s forced into a kill box. I haven’t EVER had a problem with shooting a horse in the head as a means of humane euthanasia. It is the assembly line mass slaughter that takes place in a slaughterhouse that I believe cannot be made humane for horses.
Ok, here we go again… *sigh*
What part of “the same number of horses are being slaughtered each year – they’re just being shipped to Mexico and Canada” don’t you get? If the same numbers of American horses are being slaughtered… how did the closures affect the so-called unwanted horse population and neglect? I can answer that for you… it didn’t.
Why don’t people factor in racetrack closures, the high cost of hay, decreased profitability of selling surplus horses to slaughter, AND/or the economy? Add to that the fact that more people are aware (due to news stories) of the slaughter pipeline (namely auctions) and they are more likely to “set the horse free” or tie it to the post in front of a vet or rescue.
And there are many reasons horse slaughter houses were shut down, other than the one the pro-slaughter activists tout. What about the ecological disaster surrounding horse slaughter plants? Did you know that a horse has three times the amount of blood compared to a cow/steer? All that extra blood has to go somewhere, right? So it goes into retaining ponds – but it doesn’t break down properly because of all the antibiotics horses are given. The bacteria is killed off by the drugs.
And lets talk about drugs for a second. Do farmers who raise cattle for the food-chain give their cattle Phenylbutazone (otherwise known as Bute)? No, because it is perma-banned. NO food chain animal is EVER to receive Bute. Ever.
Phenylbutazone causes blood dyscrasias, including aplastic anemia, leukopenia, agranulocytosis, thrombocytopenia, and deaths.
And that’s just ONE of the drugs that are perma-banned from food-chain animals that we give horses regularly (don’t get me started on dewormers).
Read this letter from a former mayor of a town, detailing the difficulties surrounding a horse slaughter house in her town: http://www.nashvillescene.com/pitw/archives/2010/04/09/former-mayor-horse-slaughterhouses-a-drain-on-taypayers-never-mind-the-ditches-of-blood
Seriously… people need to open their eyes to ALL the reasons horse slaughter was shut down in the States, as well as ALL the reasons for this actually nominal increase in neglect and abandonment. If the slaughter houses hadn’t shut down, we’d still be seeing the EXACT same things, as people struggle in the economy to feed their families and keep their heads above water – and they don’t want to see their horses go to the inhumane slaughter houses.
Thanks for posting these updates! They help remind us that the horses do win once in a while and it IS worth it to keep up the fight!!
OT: http://norfolk.craigslist.org/zip/2332378129.html
Total win here.
You’ve got to be kidding me! WTF?! He doesn’t own the land! Someone needs to drop Leach off way up in the back country with nothing but the clothes on his back. See how he does. Jackass will be wolf bait in days. Wolves win; horses win; society wins!
You forgot to add. There will be one less person rotting in jail in MT that the tax payers have to pay for.
I take Kempf doesn’t have any charges pending? Her jail buddies made sure she got off?
I think that Kempf does have charges pending, but I don’t have a source.
“UPDATED: April 5 at 1:15 p.m.
Stacey Kempf pleaded not guilty to 30 misdemeanor counts involving animals on her property. The court hearing took place in Green County, Ill.
Kempf pretrial hearing is scheduled for July 6, at 10 a.m. Her jury trial is scheduled for July 18, at 9 a.m.”
…so she’s still in the legal system for now but how much do you want to bet that by July 19th the cow will have received nothing more than a good-natured “tsk, tsk” and a finger wag. (I personally think she should be slammed for the full cost of feeding and caring for the horses she starved. That would send a GREAT message and Lord knows her three-figure salary can damn well handle it so why should donors be called on to deal with her mess?!)
Old adage: The wheels of justice grind slow, but they grind exceedingly fine.
They also, more often then not, grind exceedingly SQUARE, which means it takes forever and EVER for justice to be served. And in a couple of cases in today’s blog, the fat lady still ain’t singing. I live near Trina Kenney, and her story is long and sordid. For some reason, people who know better ain’t talkin’ — as in warning those who arrive horse hunting with money hanging out of their pockets that the person they are dealing with isn’t quite fair and square — and even with the Internet and all the resources available to folks now, “traders” of her ilk still manage to make a living by cheating people out of their money.
Can’t protect people from themselves, hard as we may try.
Thanks for the updates….it is too bad that nutjob got his horses back, please update if you can about what happens to that Kempf woman…I hope she is nailed to the wall!
This is O/T but the more eyes that see it the better, and kudos to the owners of this horse classifieds board who are trying to notify their users:
Recently it has been brought to my attention that a there has been an indivual who has been putting up notices looking for free livestock and horses on various websites.
He is specifically looking in the Peterborough/Kawartha Lakes regions.
He claims they are going to be companions and pets and assures the owners they will be well cared for, they can visit etc.
As it turns it out the person then refuses contact with the former owners and the horses disappear.
There is evidence that the horses are being sold for meat in the Lindsay area and this is all just a scam for him to make a quick dollar.
Many of us would be horrified to find that this has happened to our own animals.
Trentriders.com is asking everyone to please be careful when placing your horses in new homes.
Please use a contract, ask for references, do what you feel is neccessary to keep your horses safe.
On Trentriders and other boards he has used the name JP, Katlynn as well as a few other aliases.
The individual has since been blocked from Trentriders.
I’ve totally seen those ads in the Ottawa / Guelph area. I KNEW it was bad news. Fucking ridiculous.
We’ve got one like that in the Lapeer area in Michigan. He gives a different name and address everytime.
The key to winning convictions against abusers is to never give up. From my own experience and from this blog, it’s more like a boxing match. You may have to whack these idiots a few times in the head before they finally go down. That’s just the way our justice system works…the wheels need grease. When enough people are outraged and make a lot of noise, the right people will notice and something will get done. We do need more women in office though. The good ol’ boys still seem to run the system in parts of this country. An ADA doesn’t net the salary that private counsel does but we need more passionate prosecutors who aren’t in the boys’ club. I wish I’d gone that route 20 years ago!
Any news on the Lusitano herd in Oregon?
Yeah, something was posted not long ago…..
Here: http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2011/04/wallowa_sheriffs_deputies_become_cowboys_to_herd_exotic_horses_through_joseph.html
and here:
http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2011/04/exotic_horse_auction_in_eastern_oregon_nets_62000_to_satisfy_liens.html
26 of them were auctioned off, for a net of $62,000 for the county. None of them for under $500. No word yet on the case itself, however.
http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2011/04/exotic_horse_auction_in_eastern_oregon_nets_62000_to_satisfy_liens.html
There were about 150 of them confiscated, so I assume most of them will be auctioned off eventually.
WTF. I didn’t think he still owned the land they were gathered from. Would like to have seen the faces of the people watching.
This is not an update, but an initial story that I would love to be able to give updates like this on. Wolf Ridge Equine “Rescue” in Ordway, CO was busted with three starving horses in their posession, and numerous others in bad shape, and to top it off, was found to not be 501 c 3 (although soliciting donations as one). Not to mention two horses died in her care over the winter. Nearly all the horses have been removed from this leach, but she has continued to lie to law enforcement from the start, though she is clearly not telling the truth and animal control knows it (MAINLY because I hauled several groups of slaughter bound horses for this nut case and I have PHOTOS OF THEM BEFORE THEY ARRIVED THERE). She also posted pictures all over her facebook when she first got the horses in, showing them fat and happy. Funny, in 3-6 months those fat happy horses were BCS of 1-1.5. HMMM. Let’s see, you have NO HAY on your property. Just two bales of “Kosha Weed” for 16 head. You have not one singe water tank, just plastic trash cans. There is no grain, feed, supplement, blankets, brushes, etc. etc. etc. One mare is a retired show horse, and her owner let Wolf Ridge take her for “retirement”. That retirement nearly cost this horse her life. Her owner got her back and is nursing her back to health. Verna of Wolf Ridge continually said the horses were very old and therefore were just skinny and dying of old age (Funny APHA identified one of the mares as 14 yo TM Ann Hancock, didn’t think 14 was old…) Of course, animal control actually stepped up in this situation. I know that’s not always the case. But a big pat on the back for Colorado SPCA. Meanwhile, this woman is living in the worst kind of a hoarder nightmare (complete with animal feces!) with her 3 kids, husband, and two other adult males (another HMMM) in a single wide 30+ yo trailer still on wheels with a small pack of unaltered dogs and goats. I am not sure how she managed to fly under everyone’s radar for 6 months, but my god what a train wreck. Cross your fingers this goes to court and she is never allowed to own another horse or living creature. Just another great lesson, and one I MYSELF NEED TO LEARN. No matter how good they sound CHECK ON EVERYTHING, TRUST NO ONE UNTIL THEY EARN IT. If more people had done their homework, and checked in on their “retirement” horses, this might not have happened. It only would have taken driving by her address to see the piles of garbage and wire and single strand loose barbed wire “Corral”. I feel guilty for hauling horses for her, as I am sure other folks feel guilty for letting her take their beloved old timers. She has threatened to take me down for slander, and to take several other high profile and wonderful rescues (some talked about on here as great places) for telling this story. So pass it on, and I am sure the lawyers wont mind when she takes the money out of her worker’s comp claim (didnt think being obesse was a claim) to pay them. Plenty of pictures if you like~ But word has to be spread, she already got ANOTHER horse since she has been under investigation, probably a freeby from CL….
Thank you for the heads-up!
And yeah, I have seen a LOT of folks who seem to think being obese internet trolls is a disease that qualifies them to receive Workers’ Comp and/or SSI.
Amen to that statement!!! How much money could the government save if these people couldn’t claim SSI or disability because they got too damn fat to work!!! Sorry, but whatever they did to get that way does NOT give them the right to live off everyone else’s paycheck! Oh wait, then they’d say they’re too “depressed” to work…and so yet another way to get public assistance/entitlements that are not earned! Feel free to delete this post. I just had to get it off my chest.
I’m not deleting it, I feel the same way you do. Guess what, one really good cure for depression is EXERCISE…half of these people would not BE depressed if they got off the couch and cleaned their disgusting barn.
I just wanted to say this.
There is a person I know through an ex-boyfriend. At 19 she got pregnant deliberately so she wouldn’t have to work. When the time ran out on that she was “agoraphobic” (afraid of open spaces, uncontrolled social conditions, etc). She worked so hard to be convincing that she had this anxiety disorder that she actually developed it. While at 19 she was absolutely lovely, she became morbidly obese. Then she developed several health issues due to her weight. Which made her MORE sedentary, so she gained MORE weight. Her weight was eventually so much that she fell through a porch and the resulting damage to her body and her body’s inability to heal it…it was a very slippery slope and it went downhill FAST.
I am pretty sure that I don’t agree that being morbidly obese is reason enough for disability. However, my BMI is 38.7 (and I’m that fat because I overeat because I’m depressed about overeating) and without being morbidly obese it is still VERY difficult to exercise because of my weight. I can’t go out and run because it kills my knees, can’t do push ups or aerobics because I am not physically strong enough to hold myself up. I had my first riding lesson in two years two weeks ago and doing the posting trot I was breathing harder than someone in shape would breathe running a marathon. So in spite of WANTING to exercise to lose weight (which will also help with my depression) it is very difficult because of my size.
The thing that really sucks is that liposuction is considered purely cosmetic, so instead of being able to get some fat sucked out to reduce my weight so I can actually exercise, I have to start with stuff like Plus Sized Pilates and I grabbed a DVD someone mentioned on here, Walking Away the Pounds with Leslie Simone.
So I don’t agree entirely with someone collecting disability for being fat, but I really think more effort should be put forth on helping people NOT be fat if they try to apply for disability. “I see you want disability because you’re overweight. We aren’t going to pay you, instead, we are going to provide you with a personal trainer for one month who will teach you how to grocery shop, eat, and exercise. If at the end of that period you are unable to lose weight because you have a medical condition that prevents you from losing weight, THEN you can have disability”.
I can’t speak for everyone, I can only speak for myself. I went from a BMI of 23.9 (possibly lower because I had a lot of muscle mass in my lower body) to a BMI of 38.7 in the span of five years. It’s frustrating, it’s exhausting and it will turn into a never ending cycle of eating because you’re depressed, being depressed because you’re eating, followed by fuck it I’m fat and won’t ever lose weight because I suck and eating. It’s easy to look down on people for being overweight – as a matter of fact I have been treated differently at work as I’ve gained weight – without understanding what a challenge it is to STOP being overweight.
http://hubpages.com/hub/Fat-Chicks
What about bariatric surgery? I’ve seen it work brilliantly, and I know many insurances do cover it! I totally agree that at a certain point it becomes VERY difficult to exercise. However, it is not as difficult to count calories. Look, I’m biologically a hog…I LOVE to STUFF MYSELF with food. I am not someone who eats like a bird or is ever NOT hungry, and I totally eat in response to emotional stress. The trick is just changing what you eat. Eating the entire bag of frozen green beans with something dripped all over it that doesn’t have many calories (I’m a fan of both lemon pepper seasoning and spray on salad dressing) will give you that stuffed with food feeling and you will lose weight. If you’re a pastaholic, they now have these amazing Shirataki noodles that will fix your craving (the tomato sauce isn’t where the calories are, so feel free to indulge). Another thing I really like is a bag of frozen vegetables stir fried with the fake meat barbecue flavor stuff, again, not many calories and you are stuffed.
One thing you do have to do though is clear out the house of the crap. If I had a box of Twinkies in the house, or a bag of Tostitos, I WOULD EAT IT…the whole box/bag…probably at 3 AM! Your family has to get on board with you and understand that it’s like any other addiction. If you were an alcoholic, you couldn’t keep vodka in the house. You’re a foodaholic, and you can’t keep high fat foods accessible, at all. If your hubby wants that shit, tell him to keep it at the office. Don’t have ANYTHING in the house, AT ALL, that is high fat or sugary.
My mom is a compulsive eater. Her father was an alcoholic, and she has other weird little neuroses, and she’ll freely acknowledge her problem & all its accompanying issues.
She’s looked at bariatric surgery – unfortunately it only works if you change your habits afterward. Which she’s decided she won’t. It’s very frustrating and very strange to watch. She’s highly intelligent (turned down Mensa in college simply because she didn’t know what it was) and a health care professional.
She’s very active – she’s an internationally-known consultant in her field, and can clean house, chase grandkids and whip up dinner for 15 out of thin air like nobody’s business. But her knees are completely FUBAR and she needs to lose at least 120 lbs. The upside? She has good genetics: at age 66 and morbidly obese, her cholesterol & blood sugar are OUTSTANDING. Her blood pressure isn’t bad either. Her labs always freak doctors out.
But you can throw logic and ideas at people – even super intelligent people – all day long, year after year, and if they’re not ready, they’re just gonna have Teflon ears. We all want logic and reason to rule the universe, but where people are concerned, they fly right out the window.
I’ve seen what happens to people after gastric bypass. The saggy flabby skin hanging, hair falling out, nails and hair brittle and dry. The lifestyle you have to follow after the surgery is brutal as well. I never understood – what happens when you reach your ideal weight? It’s not like you can eat more. And if I was able to follow a super strict eating schedule I probably wouldn’t be overweight at all.
I spoke to a surgeon that performs bariatric surgery. I think your BMI has to be 50, OR 40 with a co-morbidity such as diabetes. As high as my BMI is you know my cholesterol and blood pressure are still good? No diabetes and my heart is working about the same as it always has. I’d actually have to gain another 60 pounds to qualify for the surgery.
There was a military event before my husband came home with a psychologist described the physiology of the brain. Your brain uses 40% of your calories. When you’re under stress it burns more. So you brain demands simple carbs for fuel. At the same time the brain translates the stress in the only way it knows how: survive. So your brain tells your body to change everything to fat to save for later. You’re pretty much screwed no matter which way you go on that one.
Did you know that chocolate has the same effect on your brain as crack (I think it’s crack), orgasms and breastfeeding? All four things release the same chemical, which is why chocolate is a comfort food. I can’t remember the last time I was depressed and having a bad day and though “Wow, I could really use some broccoli!” Unless of course it was maybe deep fried and smothered in chocolate…
My biggest problem is that I crave sugar and fat, and have an immense dislike for vegetables. Not just mentally, but bad things happen when I eat a lot of vegetation. My second biggest problem, which has actually gotten better over the last month or so as my stress levels have slightly decreased, is that I am a binge eater. I can’t have one oreo, I have to eat them until I feel like I’m going to vomit if I have another one. Again, never an issue when eating vegetables. Third problem is that I am married to a man who can eat as much of whatever he wants and not gain weight. My kids are small but the same way.
I know what I need to do to lose weight, the problem is that I am so discouraged and frustrated by the lack of ANY kind of result that I give up before I have a chance to get anything done.
I don’t know who you spoke to, but my friend got the surgery and she was probably less than 200 pounds at her highest. So you do NOT have to be morbidly obese. There’s also the lap band which they will do on nearly anyone. The reason you can change your eating habits with it is that overeating will make you puking sick. THAT’S a deterrent you haven’t had to deal with before. Most people don’t enjoy puking, so they really do stop eating large portions.
Like I said, the family needs to get on board. You really need a healthy environment that doesn’t HAVE an Oreo in it. I really do get this. I totally get binge eating. When I’m stressed, I’d like nothing better than a BAG of Tostitos and cheese dip…the WHOLE bag. That’s why I don’t keep it in the house. If you can get your family on board to help you by keeping your trigger foods away, I do believe you can change the way you eat. And you do know that giving in to the cravings produces more cravings…it’s like alcohol or crack or anything else. EVERY time I eat bread, of any kind, I become HUNGRIER. I know that this is a fact. If I stay off of it, I’m not as hungry. Pasta will also trigger a strong desire for MORE pasta…more…more…BIG HEAPING PLATES OF PASTA WITH BUTTER AND SAUCE!
The better I eat, the less I suffer with cravings. I’m sure this is true for most people. It’s just a damn hard wagon to stay on. I was bad today but thank God this is the time of year where I’m cleaning 20 stalls plus riding after work. Does wonders for counteracting the El Pollo Loco drive through (damn those sweet potato fries are awesome…)
Be careful – this is getting warm and fuzzy. All the support…what do I do?! lol.
The good news is that for whatever reason I don’t actually like the foods I’ve craved previously. I’ll be jonesing for an oreo, grab several, take two bites of one and put the rest back. Same thing with soda. And McDonald’s. I don’t know why something that would bring on so much feeling of “OMG THIS IS AWESOME” six months ago is just not appealing to me anymore. That has made things MUCH easier. lol.
Spring is amazing in how it helps us lose weight. I rack the paddock every other day and I’m putting up pasture fencing which involves moving incredibly large rocks by hand for hours at a time.
Thank you.
And “racking” the paddock is different from raking. It’s not just that I can’t seem to spell lately…lol.
I am definitely someone who hates the gym but doesn’t mind mucking, racking, etc. I want there to be a POINT to what I’m doing – past losing weight – I want to ACCOMPLISH something. You might be the same way!
I would like to say, a porch collapsing has nothing to do with her weight and everything to do with shoddy construction. I weight 350, although I’m working on that, and I had a staircase collapse under me! Fortunately for me I have strong bones so I escaped with just a hideous mark on my leg that won’t go away. After the stair collapsed, a friend examined it and found the damn thing had been held in place by two straight nails. That was… it. He said it was bound to give way eventually and we were lucky it hadn’t gone when we were taking the futon downstairs. There must have been 600 pounds on it when we did that!
Now it’s held in place with about a zillion long screws. It won’t go down again.
I love it when you post stories about convictions, animal cruelty is disgusting and I see plenty of (vet tech student) and I work a lot with horses. Check out this story:
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/pair-who-dragged-a-pony-behind-a-car-in-toowoomba-have-avoided-jail-terms-after-pleading-guilty-to-animal-cruelty/story-e6freon6-1226021978705
Although these two avoided jail time, they still have to pay the vet bills and the entire community hates their guts. I drive through Murphy’s Creek every day, the community is small and very close knit.
How smart do you REALLY need to be to realize that running behind a vehicle is dangerous. If you’re going to be THAT lazy then you need to drive SLOWLY (someone else mentioned doing this, I think it’s assumed that the animal is WALKING next to the car).
I’d like to kick both of them in the NUTS. “I didn’t mean to hurt him”. No? But you sure as hell didn’t stop and THINK either. I’m willing to bed too that the sick fuck was laughing, at least to himself, seeing a mini running as fast as he could to keep up with the car. You can only be SO ignorant before the cruel part starts showing.
That poor pony was so well trained that he didn’t think to just stop. Supposedly the son was holding his lead rope out the window? I didn’t understand in the article if he was being held or if he was tied to the vehicle.
did the math…the father was only 16 when his son was born…seems like hes been making good life choices for a while >.< though i guess something should be said about him still being in his son's life…i don't know that dragging a pony behind a car is a good father son activity…
I hate seeing any of the updates as it never seems like enough punishment if they even get any. But it is what it is and at least some of them got something. I was involved with the Amber Hyder debacle who had a horse who’s ear rotted off from lack of vet care. Then I see her post crap about how she wants to show her ‘stallion’ ( http://bigbendhorse.com/messageboard.cfm?forum_action=showposts&topicid=97860 )that I know she’s probably breeding to everything and anything with a vagina and knowing all the donated dollars (hundreds of them from my own account) that went to care for her mare that wasn’t taken care of and was taken in by a rescue…..welll it’s disheartening to say the least. Thanx Cathy for this forum and for the updates too. At least there is some sanity amongst all the garbage we see that owns, breeds, rescues, neglects and abuses these wonderful horses!
Thank you for the updates. It’s good to see justice served in at least some of these cases. It really pisses me off to no end what some people do to their animals. Over the years I have been offered many free horses, most sound and sane just needing a different home. The most recent being right now – a 5 nearly 6 year old, sound, sane mare that I would really love and the bonus being that my kids would be able to ride her too. My daughter in lessons and my son in lead line lessons. This mare is really good with kids and likes mine. I keep saying no though and for one simple reason. When I take on an animal, it is a huge commitment for me because I take the responsibility seriously and I take them on for life. So far, even as an adult, I have not felt ready to make that large of a financial commitment. At this moment I am more financially secure than I have been in a long time with two steady incomes in the family and no huge outstanding debt. So I am close to saying yes to the next horse. Or the next one. But soon…maybe.
Here are a couple more updates.
Sharon Catalano-Crumb and Frank Wikoff, New Jersey Horse Angels:
Will repay $57,129 in misused donations to the Division of Consumer Affairs. The division will donate those funds to registered non-profit horse rescue organizations operating in the state.
Will pay $23,299 in investigation costs.
The pair are also permanently barred from soliciting charitable donations in New Jersey, must shut down their rescue operation and must remove from the internet online websites used to solicit donations.
A total of $500,625 in suspended civil penalties also was assessed in the case. Those penalties will be vacated after five years if Catalano-Crumb and Wikoff comply with settlement terms, repay the misused donations, and reimburse the investigative costs.
http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=17997
Mary O’Brien, Hidden Meadow Equine Rescue:
Ordered to pay more than $11,000 restitution.
Pleaded guilty to one count of misdemeanor animal cruelty under a plea agreement, and was ordered pay a $1,000 fine and is prohibited from owning animals for five years. Under terms of the deal, 55 of the charges were dropped in exchange for the guilty plea.
http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=17999
Jennifer Petkus formerly of Thyme & Sage Ranch in Wisconsin is set to be sentenced on 4/29. Her hoarding was discovered almost 2 years ago (countless dead dogs, cats, donkeys, horses on her property) and was reported on here. She still has over 78 horses on her property……sigh. Justice would be jail time but that is doubtful.
Thanks for the update! I remember writing about her. 78 horses, ugh…
JUSTICE NOT DONE! Fugly, there is a follow-up needed on a horrific incident where a horse died in the most agonizing terrifying way imaginable, and justice definitely was NOT done. Posted on Fugly in June 2010. It was the trailer dragging horse to death post. Many, many people – local and out-of-area, followed up with local (Arlington, Washington) media both print and the local TV station, there were several “”Topix”" forums which ended up full of THE most amazing troll-work I have ever seen since the internet began. Yet local media would do no follow-up or even the most cursory investigating. In addition supposedly Pasado’s did some investigating, and someone who worked with Pasados but was not formally affiliated with them also did her own investigating until she moved from the area – did someone stop those investigations? Who got stonewalled and why? I know I personally contacted every Snohomish County Councilman and the Snohomish County Sheriff’s office. Not only did I get a self-serving mealymouthed response from only one county councilman but no follow-up ever happened. This is especially surprising because eyewitnesses stated that the rig which hauled the trailer which dragged the horse to its death had “exempt” plates on it which means it was a government-licensed vehicle (municipal, county, state or federal , fire department, health department, school, college, whatever- “exempt” means that vehicle pays no taxes because it’s already part of the government agency of whatever description) – and government vehicles are not available for personal use. The driver should at least have been prosecuted for noxious littering (e.g. horse body parts strewn for over 3 miles by all neighborhood reports) and improper personal use of an exempt vehicle. My guess from talking to locals is that the person who dragged the horse to death was a county employee and her co-workers in local government covered for her. There is a strong suspicion among locals as to who she is and this suspicion was fought at length in on-line forums – but, again, nothing was ever done. Witnesses were identified including eyewitnesses. Despite this, there was never any law enforcement follow-up that anyone could determine.
The horse murderer and her cohorts are probably still doing happy dances that they were never held to account for this unbelievably horrific equine death. No slaughter procedure in Mexico could even begin to approach the agony and terror this horse experienced in its long-drawn out dragging death here in the good ol’ USA.
Fugly, surely there is someone up in your former neck of the woods that would take this on? I have a hard time believing that this crime would be so ignored/covered up. The driver must really have been high up in local government circles to escape a real investigation, not some third-tier deputy’s glance at the aftermath and going oopsey it was an “accident.”
I’m sure that Lune Du Cheval lurks here, she’s still on Facebook. And people who know her identity think she knows a LOT more than she’s letting on about this crime.
Re: The Lusitanos in Oregon
There was an auction last Friday, the 15th.
Has anyone heard anything about outcome?
http://lusitanosinoregon.blogspot.com/2011/03/geldings.html
And Jason Meduna is OUT… http://rtfitch.wordpress.com/2011/04/19/verified-convicted-3-strikes-mustang-killer-out-on-work-release/
UGH.
I found this on our local Craig’s List. Maybe we need one of these for horses?
******************************************************************************************
Well, this one has been several years in the making.
Hello kids. I’m your friendly neighborhood Animal Control Officer, and I’d like to officially tell you all to bite my ass. Before I ride off into the sunset, however – here are some parting words…
1) To all the jackasses who ask me if I don’t have something better to do than giving them a ticket for no license/dog off leash/being a douchebag. The answer is no. No, I have nothing better than to take my precious time and taxpayer dollars to write you a COMPLETELY LAME ticket for not doing what was your responsibility to do in the first place. I love nothing more than babysitting grown adults who seem incapable of wiping their own ass without law enforcement present. Thanks, dirtbags.
2) To all the jackasses who ask me why I’m not rounding up all the killer pitbulls. Where…WHERE!? Where are all the killer pitbulls that are roaming the streets and attacking your women and children. My god, the city should just issue you all SHOTGUNS to fend off these land sharks. In other news, THERE IS NO VICIOUS PITBULL EPIDEMIC. Let’s all hold hands and say it together folks, the only epidemic is misinformation, ignorance and animal neglect. Thanks, please drive through to the second window and receive a punch in the face.
3) To all the jackasses who refuse to spay/neuter, or who think they’re “breeders” because they put fido and fifi together and produced a litter of mongrels who will all likely end up in a barrel behind the shelter by the time they reach sexual maturity: Die. Diediediediedie. I wish to god that there was a mandatory spay/neuter law and that the penalty for breaking it was to be forced to spend a day working in the euthanasia room. Seriously. It’s simple fucking math, people. Every dog or cat you carelessly add into this world takes away a home for a dog or cat that is already here. So breeding means killing…so have a good day, executioners! I hope the 50 bucks you made off that puppy sure feels good.
4) There is no goddamn thing as “No Kill”. I hate to burst your collective bubble, but when you call and ask if our shelter is “no kill”, don’t treat me like a kitten murderer when I tell you NO. There are simply not enough resources or homes available to find every pet a home and that is NOT MY FAULT. Quite simply, there is no “dog whisperer” in the world who can save your eight year old Rottweiler that spent his entire life chained to a tree in your backyard. Sorry, buster – but this one’s on you. And the places that claim to be “No Kill”? They simply send the unplaceable pets across the street to Animal Control who do the killing for them. WAKE. UP. Until mandatory spay/neuter becomes law, killing is going to happen.
5)You know what’s fun? Being told that I must “really hate dogs” because I’m an Animal Control Officer. Yessir. I put up with retards like you, the abysmally low pay, and this fabulously flattering uniform just so I can take all my bitterness out on your dog. That’s also why I foster animals, paying for their care out of my own pocket and using up my precious little free time to do it. Yeah, that’s it. Now how’s about you shut your mouth and put a leash on your dog you asshole, so I don’t have to peel him off the street later.
6) LEASHES, PEOPLE. They’re not just for the “bad dogs”. Quite frankly, dogs are carnivores – predators, if you will. When they see something furry and running fast, like a squirrel or a cat – they tend to chase after it. Next thing you know, I’m scooping up Scooby with a plastic bag…not fun. Or, how about the person who does not in fact, like dogs and has to be accosted by your poochie when they walk down the street? Or, what about the dog aggressive dog being walked safely and in control on a leash until your unleashed dog comes up and just wants to say “hi”? Dog fights are pretty ugly, and NO ONE seems to anticipate them until it’s too late. So don’t piss and moan when I give you a verbal warning for having your dog off leash…because that leads me to:
7) Your mouth will write you a ticket. Oh yeah, no kidding. I hate writing tickets. They’re a pain in the ass. I have to deal with your melt down, then I have to go back to the office and write a report about it. Next, I have to show up in court because you want to contest the ticket, even though 60% of the time YOU NEVER SHOW UP YOU CHICKENSHIT BASTARDS. So, the deal is this – if you’re nice and not eggregiously breaking the law, I’m probably just going to warn you and then go about my day. As soon as you break out the lip however, I’m breaking out the ticket book. Press hard, there’s four copies.
In conclusion. I quit! Actually, you dipshits broke me a while back and it’s been months of therapy before I could write this little missive. I still shudder when I see a pair of testicles on a dog though, so watch out.
Can you post the link? I’d like to nominate it for “Best of Craigslist.”
This is an absolutely BRILLIANT posting from the poor animal control person. He/She said EVERYTHING that I want to say EVERY SINGLE DAY here in the Central Valley where I live…… the “dipshit” quotient is off the hook here. What “Craigslist” town was this posted in?
James Leachman did get a public defender!
It’s true! But apparently the decision is “under review.”
http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/article_5240b6a1-d6f1-50bd-b8ee-49ae0b1cedf1.html
Just look at that bastard. I want to punch him; his stupid little neckerchief, his greasy gross hair, his 25 chins. Douchebag!
Fugly, check out mwt.net under the horse forum. Horses starving in WI with pics.
I saw but they were gone by the time I got home from the barn. I’d love to have the pics (and an address).
Hey Fugs, WAY off topic but every time I open your blog (five times a day!) a little window pops up and says “out of memory line 10″ any ideas? it only happens on your blog and when I click on comments.
Weird question I know but thought some one else might have the same problem.
Thanks!
I believe the answer is to use Firefox or Google Chrome – it’s not happening with those browsers.
I use Opera and I don’t get that message. So there’s another probable choice for you.
I hear ya Sues68….I see horses on a daily basis I could afford and would work with no matter what the issue…but the commitment is what scares me. I don’t want to get one and give it love and trust for 1 year….or 5 years….and then not be able to provide or have to sell. The initial purchase is nothing…the upkeep is what matters. I just said to my OH now, it is no different from the asshats who bring a child into this world because they WANT one….never mind the providing for it……what they WANT is what matters, to them
26 of the Andalusians and Portuguese Lusitano from Byrde Lynn Hill in Oregon have been auctioned off, although they don’t go to their new homes until after the case is settled. The new owners will not be charged for the horse’s care until that time.
http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2011/04/exotic_horse_auction_in_eastern_oregon_nets_62000_to_satisfy_liens.html
Apparently the lowest any individual horse went for was over $500, which puts them well out of meat prices. Sounds like the county actually made a profit on this sale, netting over $62,000 (cost of care so far has been $22,000).
Only some of these horses have been auctioned off, so if you are still in the marked for an Andalusian or a Lusitano there will be plenty more to come.
No word yet on what is happening with the neglect case, but we will see.
Why are these people ALWAYS fat and their animals are starving?
Wow – that Leachman is a prick! What I would like to know is why he was allowed to buy them back, because quite obviously he was not providing good care or being responsible – shouldn’t the courts have said “Nope, you’re not allowed to own a GOLDFISH, because you just don’t give a crap”? Also, I thought he was bankrupt? If so, why does he still own that land? Might have misread that, but I’m sure that I heard something along those lines. In any case I’m glad that the court system saw what he was trying to do and told him to get stuffed.
I actually do have an update – You remember Cajun County Ranch and Animal Rescue and Anne Marie Duhon? The way I look at it is this: You can rescue as many animals as your budget will allow and do a GREAT job with them (have them trained appropriately, have good facilities ect.) or you can stretch yourself so thin that you have 60 + animals living on 15 acres (that’s how many acres they did/do have) and do adopt out animals that you have only improved by adding weight to them.
Well probably around a month ago they sent me an e-mail asking for money (I read one of your blogs on them and then I read that something like 4 horses died when I went to their site http://cajuncountryranch.webs.com/apps/blog/?page=2 – the post is Sun 10 OCT 2010) so I was curious), anyway – I clicked on the website to see who these people are because I had forgotten about them by the time they emailed me and I saw that despite the fact they are begging for money from complete strangers, they are 1) unemployed, 2) Have a shit load of animals (it varies, according to their website, but between 60 -100 animals), 3) Have horses behind barbed wire (or at least, have pictures of horses standing behind it), 4) have pictures of helmetless babies sitting on ponies 5) adopt out horses that are unbroken and 6) Say things like “By no means can we do this alone”. . . Well, maybe get rid of the animals then, or you know, get a job.
Sounds like a fail to me.
http://www.operationhorserescue.blogspot.com
Oh I can do you better. Look up rescue scams and or the current ethics conversation, yahoo, or at her desperate plea for hay last year, well money. for hay at this link, I don’t think she had 20 horses, but we will see. http://missyshopeerr.freehostia.com/Rescues_in_need2.htm
And yes, we are working on getting our horses back. Huge mistake on my part.
Any help or other informaiton on the whole cajun rescue other thn the 6 names she has worked under would help.
Some further reading on the Leachman case and where it stands now:
http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/b8b96293-2943-5b6a-b2c5-61a156617620.html
In other words no one can fix stupid.
You are wrong on the Vess case. The judge made his biase known as he was running for re-election. He came in 3 out of three. Mark Davis did not represent his client properly. He didn’t want to annoy anyone as he was hoping for a placement in the court. Almost ALL evidence presented showing Vess had sold all of her personal and equine goods to pay for hay was disallowed. Robin
advertised on Craigs list and offered horses for free to Arabian horse owners. They refused to take them as they thought she was getting what she deserved.
Many of the horses were “taken” to private homes (the good ones). Ottawa HS authorized the destruction of three mares WITHOUT any tests to see if they were iill. Their crime. They would not load into the trailer. One mare was trampled AND LEFT on the ground after they dragged her out of the trailer by her tail. She had broken bones from the trauma. And..the horses had been verbally given to ARM. Ottawa County HS wanted the horses to run up a major bill so they could seize the property. All of these issues need to be addressed.
I’m trying to figure out what you are saying here. A lot of people point fingers at the various rescues, humane society branches, shelters law enforcement officers, etc, saying they want the animals or they want the animals to use as leverage to gain something else.
“Ottawa County HS wanted the horses to run up a major bill so they could seize the property.”
Regardless of what you are trying to say in your post, NO animal control officer, shelter, humane society shelter or worker, legitimate rescue, temporary fosters, etc, WANTS to take in abused/neglected animals for any reason. Why? BECAUSE IT COST MONEY TO CARE FOR THOSE ANIMALS. MONEY that is scarcely donated from the private sector and only facilities directly related with a branch of the government get scant taxpayer dollars. Grants are even harder to get so to say that a Humane Society branch (I’m assuming that’s what HS stood for in your post) wanted neglected horses that they would have to house, feed, give medical care to and have a bunch of equine knowledgable unpaid volunteers to care for just so they could gain something else is absolutely ridiculous!! And to use ‘their’ bill in order to seize any property would take years in the court system….literally YEARS, if at all.
“Robin advertised on Craigs list and offered horses for free to Arabian horse owners. They refused to take them as they thought she was getting what she deserved.”
So all ARABIAN HORSE OWNERS who read this craigslist ad contacted Robin and said, hay honey, you’re gettin’ what you deserve, we don’t want those horses…? Again your intended point to this statement, seems lost.
“The judge made his biase known as he was running for re-election. He came in 3 out of three. Mark Davis did not represent his client properly. He didn’t want to annoy anyone as he was hoping for a placement in the court.”
You’re kiddin’ right? A judge based his re-election on an animal neglect case? Are there only idiots living in his voting district?
Your post is a bit vague and you seem to be arguing with Cathy directly but I couldn’t help myself on this. The statements are so pointless and rhetorical in nature of anyone who does not want to admit they did something wrong, learn from it and not do it again. Blame everyone and anyone else, which in fact, your post does….. the judge, the attorney, the humane society and the enabler which stops just shy of blaming the candlestick maker!
“One mare was trampled AND LEFT on the ground after they dragged her out of the trailer by her tail.”
Why didn’t anyone call the authorities after a mare was trampled and left on the ground? And I really need to see the pictures of the humans that were strong enough yet small enough to fit into a horse trailer and drag a horse out of said trailer, by its’ tail. Now that one really is puzzling. Were the broken bones in the dock? Why wasn’t anyone charged with cruelty after dragging a horse by its’ tail out of a trailer and trampled? Was it alive? What trampled it?
Really you don’t have to answer. I’m fairly sure I’d be just as confused if you did.
Oh, feel free to answer. I just shook my head and wasn’t going to put in the effort.
Like a young’n just turned out on a cool morning in the fall, I was feelin’ fresh when I read that craziness. It was so simplistic and yet so confused, I couldn’t resist! LOL!
I would hate to be involved in the Vess case – It promises to be one that will drag on endlessly. I thought her lawyer’s quote indicating a witness might have a vendetta against Vess. “In this particular case there’s no evidence whatsoever that the trial judge knew this. It could have been earth-shattering.” was particularly irritating. Looks like they figured two time-wasting drama queens are better than one.
Earth-shattering? Seriously? Have you been double-parked under the ganga tree, Yelsky? Unless this is the first time this judge has been in a courtroom in ANY capacity, there is just no way a witness for the prosecution disliking a defendant would be a revelation…Here’s another newsflash, the prosecution doesn’t take somebody to court just because someone doesn’t LIKE them.
You got busted, Vess. Just do the right thing – Pay up and shut up. Yeesh.
Re: Robin Vess case, you’ll be glad to know that Ohio’s sixth district court of appeals REJECTED her appeal on June 24 (of course, her counsel says they will continue to appeal).
The drama around this case continues to swirl, but to correct a few of the more outlandish lies being peddled as truth:
1) Her involvement with the Arabian Horse Club of Greater Toledo is often mentioned. Yes, she started the club. She also nearly bankrupted it, and other members were forced to dig into their own pockets to cover her outlandish financial promises from the start.
2) she did NOT have one of the finest breeding programs in the country, contrary to what those who don’t know better like to claim. The majority of her horses were average or below. Were some nice? Sure. But if you do any digging, you’ll find indiscriminate breeding, little to no performance testing of the mares, no clear breeding philosophy and exorbitant prices. She did not seem to realize that the glamorous 80s ever ended for the breed.
3) the seizure of those horses was not about anyone wanting a horse grab (horses have little market value in northwest Ohio, Arabians even less so).
4) after starving some of her horses to death, Vess left others so damaged that they could not be saved, and euthanasia was the only humane option — that does NOT make the vets who euthanized those dying, suffering animals responsible for their deaths. The ONLY person responsible for this whole mess is one Robin Vess.
Should have added this link to my post:
http://www.sanduskyregister.com/news/2011/jun/24/vessappeal062511mtxml