Sorry about the lack of a twitter feed at the Town of
Providence court tonight. I couldn’t get a phone signal much less a 3g feed.
Anyway I had forgotten how beautiful Providence is. Lake Nancy was pretty in
the moonlight. But you don’t come here to read weather reports.
The FOX 23 news story
The FOX 23 news story
I will give it blow by blow. Court started with Town of
Providence Justice Cummings, ordering all electronic devices be turned off or
he would confiscate them. I was heartened to see that court was filled with
animal lovers hoping to see justice. I was disappointed to see only one media outlet
{chanel 10/8} was there with zero print media. We sat through an hour and half
of small town court. Speeding tickets,
vandalism and the like. Then finally last was Ann Arnold.
The prosecutor was KAREN A. HEGGEN, FIRST ASSISTANT DISTRICT
ATTORNEY. Arnold was represented by public defender Oscar L. Schreiber. There
were lengthy closed door conferences while the peanut gallery was left cooling
their jets. Finally Heggin, Schreiber and Arnold came out from a conference
from with Justice Cummings.
As I had reported earlier on twitter all the horses were
removed from 131 Wilton rd where Arnold had been staying. But they were just
moved to Grange Rd were her brother has a hovel and a shit piece of land. Turns
out Arnold had also moved to Grange to be near her abused animals. So once
again Arnold violated her probation spitting in the eye of the justice system.
Heggin’s said Arnold was charged with three counts of
violating her probation from Nov 2012.
First, she has failed to make restitution for the care of
her horses from Oct to Dec last year as required.
Second, she had kept horses on property that she lived at.
Third, she failed to have a mental health evaluation.
After the lengthy private conferences she plead to one count
in full satisfaction of the charges.
A single count of failure to make restitution for the care
of her horses from Oct to Dec last year as required.
She was then sentenced to one night in jail or until her
three horses are removed from Grange Rd and taken to a horse sanctuary in Northumberland.
She will be released shortly after breakfast in the county jail. Looking at her
bulk I hope it’s not all you can eat. Her horses may starve but this woman knows
her way around a refrigerator.
In one week she will be back in Town of Providence court to
be sentenced to time served. Yes that’s it.
She was politely taken away and handcuffed out of site and then slipped into a
Sheriffs car out of view. She is probably watching TV in jail tonight. By the
look of her hovel, jail is probably a step up.
A very polite first assistant DA Karen Heggins then took our
questions. She said if Ms.Arnold continues to keep horses she will be jailed. I
told her that I would drive by 131 Wilton rd and who do I call when I see
horses. She told me to call the State Police. I said I will.
Now my own thoughts. I find this slap on the wrist
troubling. The woman clearly has mental issues. In March 1992 her son Theodore
Arnold age 16 blew his brains out under the flag pole at the Saratoga High
School. He used a simple 22 rifle. You can read it yourself HERE. Her husband shot
himself three weeks after his son, Theodore Arnold committed suicide outside
the high school
Eugene Arnold, 37, called the Saratoga County sheriff's
office saying he was despondent about his son's death and threatening suicide. When
they arrived he was in his dog’s cage and shot himself before deputies could intervene.HERE
If ever I saw a women who needed serious psychiatric care
Ann Arnold is it. That woman has no business even owning a hamster much less a
horse. Seriously, she belongs in Four
Winds. Anyway the saga will go on and on and on. Don’t worry what the
mainstream press won’t cover I will. Your donations make that possible
Saratoga in Decline
We never Sleep
Because all the nuts aren’t in fruitcake
12 comments:
The people calling for better mental health treatment instead of gun control would be helping situations such as this one as well as reducing violence.
How sad that the animal welfare people aren't getting any support in this cause. Wouldn't you think that Saratoga County of all places would have more interest in protecting horses?
In NY a person cannot be involuntary confined to a mental health facility absent clear and convincing /evident that the person poses an imminent threat to herself or other people. The Judge could issue a pick up order at which time this woman would be brought to the ER for evaluation. It does not sound like she is suicidal or homicidal at least not to people.
As you may remember John Sweeney sponsored a bill to prevent the slaughter of horses in this country. In the law of unintended consequences this has produced dire consequences for horses. Now tethered is a lucrative business in transporting old or sick horses to Canada or Mexico to be either slaughtered or worked to death. Of course the criminals involved in this transport hold the animals in the most deplorable conditions. Its time to repeal this law to allow humane slaughter of horses. Apparently Congress envisioned that anyone owning a horse in this country had these animals as pets and were affluent enough to keep and feed horses who cannot work. This is not true. The amish farmer cannot afford to keep horses who cannot work., neither can the carriage driver in NYC or the horse racing industry.
Great reporting,john,thought I was reading the "onion" but this is for real.
thank you john for keeping up with this important local case...i believe the entire veterinary community would like more to be done with this case..but it is a start
“By KARL RITTER
STOCKHOLM (AP) - Swedish furniture giant Ikea was drawn into Europe's widening food labeling scandal Monday as authorities said they had detected horse meat in frozen meatballs labeled as beef and pork and sold in 13 countries across the continent.”
Although, this Ann Arnold case of animal abuse is bad one must also keep in mind the larger picture. Five minutes of research on the internet will show an equally horrendous amount of animal cruelty used to satisfy human food consumption.
It‘s all well and good to bare witness to these legal proceedings but a bigger impact could be accomplished by simply giving up eating animals or at the very least, insist on eating meats that are humanely raised.
So unless you take the time and interest in how your food is raised and processed, the next time you eat steak, chicken, or pork you are directly contributing to the same type of animal abuse the these horses have endured.
Also, let’s not look the other way as far as animal abuse goes concerning racetracks, farms, or zoos.
From the NY Times....
“On average, 24 horses die each week at racetracks across America. Many are inexpensive horses racing with little regulatory protection in pursuit of bigger and bigger prizes. These deaths often go unexamined, the bodies shipped to rendering plants and landfills rather than to pathologists who might have discovered why the horses broke down.”
One doesn't need to be confined to a mental health facility to receive mental health treatment. If mental issues are a factor in this woman's criminal behavior, she should be offered help. If she doesn't want to clean up her act even with support, she should be thrown in the slammer to rot for running a criminal enterprise and flouting a judge's order.
This moron is being used with her consent. Someone should have an interest in moving up the chain to find out who is doing the using. Of course, when their is money involved, officials can be made to look the other way.
Carriage drivers in NYC-who cares, shut 'em down. The racing industry can afford some hay, I think.
Thank you John for your reporting!
I just want to make clear, these horses were taken to a boarding barn not an animal santuary knowing the Arnolds, most likely a field somewhere, I do not trust them to find a decent place, she couldn't afford the board on 12 horses!
Just a comment on horse slaughter, the horses in the US cannot be used for human consumption because they recieve drugs. What we do need is low coast or no cost for people to put their horses down if they can not afford it.
So is this lady a demented hoarder? Or is she involved with the transportation of defenseless horses to be slaughtered in Canada? Does anyone know? Can we find out? Is anyone trying to change this stupid statute so we can provide humane euthanasia for our own horses in the USA? did anyone say at the hearing why she had these horses?
Knowing more about Mrs Arnold now, after reading about her son and husband, I have a better understanding of what she must have gone through.
She must be still grieving their loss.
There should be a low cost way to humanely kill horses in this country.
She cant afford her own attorney utilizing the taxpayers dime of a public defender for her defense, Yet she tries to keep horses which are a substantial financial responsiblity. Yet why isnt our legal system making sure she is in compliance with her mental health eval and her restitution?
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