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Group aims to halt horses' return to owner
Assistant District Attorney Michael A. Pacek and attorney Bernard P. Matthews Jr., counsel for Action for Animals, said the stay is necessary while the higher court hears their appeal of Westmoreland County Judge William J. Ober's ruling to return the horses to Terry L. Painter.
The horses, which are being cared for at various facilities in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, were impounded in April when Painter was cited with a summary violation of cruelty to animals. Thirty-three additional citations against him were filed in May.
Those charges are pending before District Justice Douglas Weimer, of North Huntingdon. A hearing has been set for July 24.
Matthews and Pacek allege Ober's order is "erroneous as a matter of law and improperly interferes with the jurisdiction of the district justice over summary charges."
"Our point is, this is evidence," Matthews said Wednesday. "We're not asking for forfeiture to sell the horses. These 'thoroughbred' horses have trouble walking."
Painter's attorney, John Bumbaugh, maintains that Action for Animals wants to sell the horses to raise money. The organization denies that claim.
Bumbaugh questioned the "validity" of the appeal.
"It comes as no surprise. But I don't think they can appeal this type of order," he said.
According to court documents filed yesterday, the horses are suffering from various ailments, including "lice infestation, starvation, cracked hooves, being severely underweight, parasites, stunted growth, infestation with strongyles (parasites), untreated injuries, adult blood worms, untreated broken jaw, severe emaciation, obvious signs of botulism, worm, rainrot, lethargy, tapeworm infestation, infected feet, lameness, overall atrophy of muscles and weakness."
On Monday, Ober ordered any animals "not suffering debility, disease or lameness" to be moved to a farm Painter is leasing in Sewickley Township.
None of the horses have been moved, Matthews said.
Painter, a former North Huntingdon Township commissioner, had relocated the horses to the farm on Mars Hill Road in Sewickley Township this year after selling his North Huntingdon property to a developer.
Fourteen horses died in his care, court documents state. The horses died after eating hay infected with botulism, which can result from improper drying, humane officers said.
But humane officers allege that neglect of the animals was a long-standing practice.
"This isn't about botulism. That's not what happened here," said Action for Animals humane officer Elaine Gower.
A former employee of Painter's said that at one time, the horses -- and the North Huntingdon Township farm where they were kept -- were well-cared for.
Stephanie Kerber, formerly of North Huntingdon, worked for Painter about 14 years ago. She still has the horse she bought from Painter.
"Although the horses were in good care when I was there ... his attention to the animals plummeted in years to follow," she said. "I saw how his horses walked around, hip bones and ribs visible through their skin, scrounging for food."
She said Painter became "over-extended" on horses, trying to care for as many as 50 at a time on three different farms, with little hired help. "Quantity was always the issue," she said.
Painter built a new barn at the North Huntingdon farm, but with no help in maintaining it, conditions quickly deteriorated, said Kerber, who now lives in Virginia.
If prosecution of the animal cruelty charges is successful, the commonwealth intends to seek the maximum penalties permitted under the law, including forfeiture of the horses. A conviction on each count carries a maximum fine of $750, or 90 days in jail, or both.
Should Painter be acquitted of the charges, the horses would be returned to him.
A spokesman in the prothonotary's Pittsburgh office said the request for a stay could be decided in a day or so. The appeal could take several months.
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