State Seizes Eleven Horses from Two Meriden Owners

One was so lice-ridden most of its hair had fallen out. Another was so skinny he had a “bedsore”-like injury from his own hipbone rubbing against the interior of his skin – there was no fat to cushion it.

That was the scene animal control officers said they found Friday morning when they seized 11 horses and an array of small animals from two locations in Meriden.

Working with Meriden Police and Meriden Animal Control, the State Department of Agriculture took nine horses, including one miniature horse, from a now-defunct dairy farm at 705 Westfield Road known as Bilger Farm, and two horses, five rabbits, two goats, three dogs, two cats and a duck from a private home at 707 Hanover Street. One horse belonged to Bill O’Brien, while the other 10 horses and additional animals were owned by Maureen Kenney, who lives at the 707 Hanover St. location.

State officials said the horses they removed with a search and seizure warrant were underweight, lacked proper veterinary care, some had hoof and medical problems that weren’t being properly cared for, and some had lice. The back legs of the miniature horse were immobilized as though they were broken. They were also being given low-quality feed, officials said.

"Mr. O’Brien’s horse was one of the most emaciated horses I’ve ever seen in my 27 years," said State Animal Control Officer Raymond Connors, who said this was the cause of the sore on this horse’s hip.

But O’Brien and his family sharply deny the claims that their 29-year-old horse “Buddy” was poorly treated.

“I’ve had him since he was four…I have to be doing something right to keep him alive until 30,” O’Brien said by phone Friday evening. 

O’Brien said Buddy is a “hard keeper,” in his old age, meaning that he has difficulty keeping weight on. He said he feeds the horse the best grain available twice a day and a mixture of hay and molasses in the afternoon. He said in the last few months the horse hadn’t been eating because of a succession of issues - a new deworming drug that he didn’t take well to and an incident in which the horse fell into a trough and frightened and exhausted himself trying to get out.  

"It’s not an excuse," said Connors, when asked if extreme weight loss is common in old horses. Connors mentioned a previous case where malnourished horses around 28-29 years old were seized in Somers, Ct. last year and today, after state care, are robust.

O’Brien’s sister, Patty O’Brien-Giammatteo, helps take care of the horse and was on the phone with Meriden Patch Friday afternoon when she heard officials on television say her family’s horse was one of the most emaciated they’d ever seen and began to cry.

“There is no neglect on my brother’s part whatsoever. Look, (Buddy’s) thin but he’s old. He’s happy – it’s not like his hair was falling out. He has bright eyes,” O’Brien-Giammatteo said. She talked about another horse, “Tonto” that the family recently had their veterinarian to put down because of cancer. “If we were mistreating horses, Tonto would still be here – we’re not the people to put any animal in any kind of pain.”

Kenney was in court Friday morning to be arraigned on a previous misdemeanor for cruelty to animals for two horses found in her care that were allegedly neglected. Attempts to contact Kenney by phone for this story were unsuccessful.

Officials had been in contact with the animal owners since August 19, 2010, when an unidentified person told authorities that he or she was concerned about the animals' welfare and condition. Connors said that the State Animal Control office gave the owners guidance and an opportunity to try and improve conditions for the animals, but that they had not complied. No charges have been filed against Kenney and O'Brien from today's seizure, and Connors said the case is still under investigation.

The horses were taken to the Connecticut Department of Agriculture's large animal rescue facility in Niantic, which is located at the Gates Correctional institution, where veterinarians will examine them. They will then be cared for by Connecticut Department of Agriculture staff and prison inmates who are part of work program to rehabilitate animals.

The small animals have been taken to local animal shelters and will be available for adoption after rehabilitiation. The horses, once rehabilitiated, will be put up at an annual spring auction.

The O’Briens are hoping to get Buddy back well before that happens.

"I know there’s a lot of cases of animal abuse that need to be addresssed," O'Brien said. "But this situation here – I have witnesses – this horse is cared for three times a day."