Horse breeder charged with cruelty to animals
Ernie Paragallo, 51, faces a year in jail if convicted
The Daily Mail
April 11, 2009

Climax horse breeder Ernest Paragallo was formally arrested Friday afternoon by state police and charged with 22 counts of animal cruelty.

Paragallo, 51, was charged with torturing and injuring animals and failure to provide sustenance on his Center Brook Farm under state Agriculture and Markets law.

He faces up to one year in jail and/or a $1,000 fine for each count.

Paragallo was arraigned before Town of Coxsackie Justice Thomas Fori and ordered held in the Greene County Jail in lieu of $5,000 bail or $10,000 bond, state police said Friday.

Paragallo, the owner of 1996 Kentucky Derby favorite Unbridled Song, who finished fifth, was arrested after driving upstate from his Long Island home to be questioned by investigators about the malnourished horses found Wednesday.

State Racing and Wagering Board Chairman John D. Sabini said that his board has terminated Paragallo’s privilege to participate in thoroughbred racing in New York State.

“I stand committed to enforcing the rules of thoroughbred racing and ensuring that those involved in the sport do not jeopardize the health and welfare of the horses we rely on to compete in the races we regulate,” Sabini said.
Sabini said that Paragallo has agreed to give up his position as an authorized agent for the horse-breeding enterprise Paraneck Stable next week.

The New York Racing Association has barred Paraneck Stable from entering horses at NYRA’s three racetracks — Saratoga, Belmont and Aqueduct, where his daughters’ stable has 40 horses. The move prohibits Paragallo from the tracks’ backstretch and paddock, but not its grandstand or other areas open to patrons.

“We want to make sure that the interests of the betting public, fans of the sport and other involved parties are protected,” said Racing and Wagering Board spokesman Joe Mahoney.

Paragallo is licensed with the state Racing and Wagering Board as the authorized agent for Paraneck Stable, which he founded but later turned over to his daughters Jennifer and Kristen in 2005, when the state revoked his owner’s license for financial irresponsibility.

NYRA officials said no member of the Paragallo family or current Paraneck employee are allowed to operate the stable. The Paraneck horses currently stabled at Aqueduct’s barns will be allowed to remain at the track.

The Racing and Wagering Board has launched its own investigation into Paragallo. Mahoney said the board is looking into whether it appears Paragallo has been acting as the stable’s owner, despite having his owners license revoked four years ago.

Paragallo has agreed, at the board’s suggestion, to surrender his authorized agent’s license next week, Mahoney said.
State police and animal protection organizations seized the horses. Veterinarians examined the animals and found all of them to be in varying stages of malnutrition.

More than 60 of the 177 horses on the farm were transferred into the custody of the Columbia-Greene Humane Society/SPCA President Ron Perez said Friday evening.

“The SPCA will care for the other horses as well until the case is adjudicated,” Perez said.

He said that hay and food had arrived and that the horses had begun to eat. The farm lacked sufficient winter shelter, he said, adding that the horses were being properly rotated from shelter to field.

Perez said that in addition to being malnourished, many of the horses were infested with internal and external parasites, suffering from untreated lacerations, and in need of hoof care. He said broodmares were kept in stalls without proper bedding.

The horses will become available for adoption through the SPCA, he said.

“They’re on their way,” he said.

The SPCA, in conjunction with state police, executed a search warrant Wednesday on Paragallo’s 511-acre Center Brook Farm.

Equine veterinarians Dr. Jerry Bilinski of North Chatham and Dr. Danielle Sand of Rhinebeck examined the horses at the time and found them to be underweight and in need of medical attention.

“This is just a sad and unfortunate situation,” Coxsackie Town Supervisor Alex Betke said. “Hopefully the animals are really being taken care of now, and it sounds like they are.”

Unbridled Song won the 1995 Breeders Cup Juvenile, and in 1996 won the Florida Derby and the Wood Memorial to earn his status as Kentucky Derby favorite. Paragallo also owned Artax, the 1999 Eclipse winner as top sprinter.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.