Ashlee Watts - horse abuse

License suspended for 2 years and must work under supervision for 3 years after that. $15,000 fine. :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

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I hope the horse community forever shuns her.

She deserves a greater punishment than was given.

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Not suspended.
Revoked.

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That was the attorney for the vet board’s recommendation. The board rejected the recommendation and unanimously voted in revoking her license.

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Permanently, or for 2 years?

Revoked means permanently stopped/taken back.

It is not suspended; she no longer has a licence as it has been permanently cancelled.

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For anyone who has the ability to check, could you see if Ashlee Watts has been in any dressage shows lately? USDF?

USDF scores shows that her last recorded scores were nationals in 2023. Nothing since then.

@Mersidoats Thanks very much for checking.

I dońt know how the person interviewed and person committing the acts shés charged with can be the same person :frowning: :worried:

Dazzle’s owner has posted a short video. I feel so very sad for all who were involved with Ashlee Watts.

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The story is starting to hit larger mainstream media audiences. Follow up investigative journalist article from Caroline Collier

The Vet, The Cattle Prod, and the Guttural Wail

Podcast with the author:

YT: FORTitude FW Podcast: The Lions Are Coming

ETA: after working through the article, it goes beyond the criminal case and surprise, there were issues with her research activities as well.

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Isn’t her sentencing trial today? Are there any updates?

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What a terrible defense. No, she wasn’t out there “burning cats”, but she was out there jabbing electrical prods into ill animals’ privates while on the job, then downplaying/lying about that! That is not normal vet procedure and she wouldn’t have lied about soing it if she thought it was.

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It was a terrible defense all the way around. I don’t think they really had any good options. I kind of feel for them, they were stuck with an obligation to vigorously defend a generally indefensible set of actions.

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@Sdel thanks for sharing that article and podcast. Both were so well done. What a hero that reporter is and hearing the story about her cat is chilling. And other heroes too -the vet tech and the medical board that finally got it together.

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From FB:

Judges verdict

2 year State Jail-Probated to 4 (or 5 ?) years

Terms of Probation (to be clarified ) 400 hours community service, anger management & animal oriented program to be completed.

NO contact with livestock animal for 2 years.

Possibility of judicial clemency after sentence duration.

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Former Texas A&M veterinarian Ashlee Watts was sentenced to five years probation on Friday after she was convicted of felony animal cruelty in October.

Watts, 47, faced up to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine after prosecutors said she excessively used a cattle prod on a horse in her care. Her veterinarian license has already been revoked.

In addition to five years of probation, Watts has to pay a $5,000 fine, complete 400 community service hours, and attend anger management and animal care classes.

Watts is also required to have no contact with livestock animals for the next two years, but her lawyer says she’s appealing that condition.

She has her own horses as well as some boarders. (Who would entrust their horse to her care after seeing that video?!) It’ll be interesting to see how that plays out.

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