I haven't followed the case closely, but her farm is about 10 minutes from my house, and the case was tried right in my village of East Aurora. This is a Very rural spot. I'm in a town, and we're a reasonable commute to the city of Buffalo, but past East Aurora, it's all farming communities. So folks have Very Strong opinions about this story-- most are against Ms Hoskins, but some of my farming relations expressed concern when one of the reasons cited for her losing the animals, was that they were caked in filth. After the snow starts melting in the spring, it's hard to find a farm animal Not caked in filth, since mud is absolutely everywhere until grass starts to grow. (it's a temporary thing, of course) Anyway, I've seen an interview with her on the news before and she comes off really weird-- super sarcastic, with a they're-out-to-get-me complex. ...of course, that describes lots of folks round these parts. The Tea Party has a crazy stronghold on people in this area. NY taxes are high, and we have strong gun control laws, so the paranoids have plenty to complain about. But I do have a very good friend who's a vet and a horse owner. If you have any questions, I'm sure she could give you a better-educated response than I can. I used to have a tenuous connection to someone who was taking care of the actual horses through the SPCA, but it was the wife of someone Curtis was contracting for, and that contract ended a while ago.
Bird W. replied:
Thanks Shelly. Sounds like a lot worse than mud was going on with those horses, some of whom have been described as terrified and afraid to come out of the backs of their stalls. Hoof abscesses and stalls full of shit too.This article gives a pretty good description: http://www.horsechannel.com/horse-news/2010/04/02/73-horses-rescued.aspx Just out of curiosity: do you remember the name of the person you have a tenuous connection to? One of my friends also cares for some of these horses through the SPCA.
Shelly D. replied:
I knew I saw a headline about her this week: http://wivb.com/2014/05/13/spca-to-return-horses-to-farm-owner-convicted-of-animal-cruelty/
Shelly D. replied:
Here's a three year old video of the lady at her farm, after some of the horses were returned: http://archive.wgrz.com/news/daybreak/daybreakweekend/story.aspx?storyid=91705
SO the man who drove onto the side walk and killed the mother of a 2 year old who was in a stroller and seriously injuried the other person on the side walk has not been...