| Punishment should
fit Paragallo's crime Ernie
Paragallo has been convicted on 33 charges of animal cruelty and now
it is up to Judge George J. Pulver Jr. to give him as harsh a
sentence as possible. What Paragallo did is despicable and the judge
shouldn't show one ounce of leniency. That means giving him two
years in prison, fining him $33,000 and forcing him to pay
restitution to the various agencies that came in and rescued the
emaciated, starving horses on his farm in Climax, N.Y.
Good for Pulver thus far for not falling for
Paragallo's lame excuses and attempts to put the blame on his
employees at the farm or his idiotic assertion that he was merely
following the feeding guidelines set forth in "Joe Taylor's Complete
Guide to Breeding and Raising Racehorses." Good for Greene County
District Attorney Terry Wilhelm for arguing an effective case and
getting the conviction. Kudos to the Columbia-Greene Humane Society
for all the work it did in helping to nail Paragallo and finding
homes for his horses.
Paragallo's attorney has said he will file an
appeal, but it doesn't really matter. He has no case and will not
win.
Sentencing has been set for May 18. Pulver
doesn't have to give Paragallo, who remains free on bond, the
maximum sentence. This wouldn't be the first time that a judge gave
someone a sentence much less than the maximum, maybe even one that
doesn't include jail time. That shouldn't happen here, and it
probably won't.
The story began in April when investigators
raided Paragallo's upstate New York farm and seized 177
malnourished, parasite-infested horses. Many of the ailing horses
were adopted out, but several were in such bad shape that they had
to be euthanized. Paragallo is a prominent owner and breeder who
raced 1996 Kentucky Derby favorite Unbridled's Song and whose horses
have earned $20.6 million on the racetrack.
"My gut reaction is that when someone is found
guilty on 33 of 34 counts, they will get the maximum penalty," said
Diana Pikulski, who heads the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation and
is also a lawyer. "That just shows the scope of his behavior."
Ron Perez, the president of the
Columbia-Greene Humane Society, agrees.
"Yes, I think he will do some jail time," he
said. "The magnitude of this particular cruelty is going to pave the
way for a sentence that is near the max. Whether he'll actually get
two years, I don't know about that. But I do think he'll get the
lion's share of the jail sentence."
Perez also wants Judge Pulver to order
Paragallo to pay his organization the estimated $60,000 it had to
spend on care for the ailing horses. That should be a no-brainer.
"That's a lot of money and we need it," Perez
said. "We're a tiny little place."
Considering what Paragallo did, two years and
a $33,000 fine doesn't seem like enough. The problem is that under
New York law, Paragallo's crimes qualified only as misdemeanors and
not felonies. In some instances, New York's animal cruelty laws are
quite harsh, but the stiffest ones do not cover horses, only animals
classified as companion animals. Had Paragallo starved 33 dogs, he
very well could have been hit with felony charges.
Since the Paragallo case broke, Perez has been
meeting with politicians in Albany in an effort to get the laws
changed so that anyone seriously mistreating horses can be charged
with a felony.
"This should have been a felony," he said. "I
have met with Senator (Eric) Adams (the chairperson of the state's
racing, gaming and wagering committee) from the New York State
Senate twice now and the impetus behind my meeting was to say that
if there are 10 or more animals that are being mistreated and not
being provided with proper sustenance then it should go up to a
felony. There seems to be a lot of consensus that that should apply.
To do so, horses have to be moved into a category as a companion
animal."
Whatever happens, Paragallo won't be behind
bars long. Don't be the least bit surprised if he wants back into
racing. Don't think it can't happen. The sport is notorious for
allowing its worst miscreants to find their way back into the
business. Paragallo must never race or own a horse again. The same
goes for anyone in his immediate family. He already made New York
racing regulators look like chumps when they allowed him to get away
with putting his horses in his daughters' names after he got in
trouble for not paying his debts.
This is a bad guy who did a very bad thing. He
needs to go to jail for two years and never step foot on a racetrack
again. Go get him, Judge Pulver. |