Yes, he showed off the stallion barn to his tour groups, which were the horses being fed and worked. Everyone else was starving in filth in the back.
1 Like
I worked for a hoarder/breeder and he used to have open houses!!! I donāt know how he was never reported. He and his family were revered for their ābreeding program.ā 
1 Like
I have worked in animal welfare for many years. True hoarding is obviously the result of mental illness. Animal abuse and neglect not associated with hoarding is due to other mental issues. It took forever but finally a large number of jurisdictions have been able to get some legal-ease added to their books regarding any kids involved or around cases of animal abuse/neglect due to the strong parallels and often co-existing cases of crime. A few, though no where near what it should be, jurisdictions require social workers be involved in the investigation of hoarding cases and if convictions result in social services obligated to remain in some type of oversight situation (perpetrator). Until we truly wrap our arms around HUMAN mental health issues a toe hold on effectively addressing animal welfare issues is all weāll ever have. I cannot tell you the degree of frustration most of us directly experienced with getting such cases to court feel due to the decision of a judge to ācompromiseā and give back some if not all of the poor animals involved. This is a story that is repeated far, far too often due to the lack of recognition (officially) of the mental health elements at the core.
7 Likes
Animal-related issues and the courts are never compatible.
Hoarding needs to be treated more like addiction than like something the court can put an arbitrary number on.
2 Likes
More details provided here, and pictures of just how bad the seized horses look. Thereās no way you see this in your field and think itās ok.
1 Like
He is nuts. Saying you can take some horses but not the Friesians. 71 and he has absolutely no plan to feed the horses. No trainers to train them.
1 Like
Some court action on this case today, which sadly serves only to reinforce the belief that the official court system fails animals more often than it helps them. The judge in the case came to no conclusion about whether the horsesā treatment qualified as neglect, so their status is still in limbo, even as the rescue caring for them is shelling out huge sums for emergency medical treatment (seriously underweight and unhealthy yearlings who canāt eat hay, numerous choke episodes, etc). The judge said he will issue a judgement āat the earliest opportunity,ā so the horses remain on temporary custody of the rescue.
Itās unthinkable that a judge is even considering letting this disgusting, neglectful owner get away with abusing horses in this manner. Itās also really hard to understand how a veterinarian who worked with him spoke in his defense. And I also have to say I am also disgusted to know that Poulin Grain is one of the organizations that testified on his behalf. I know many people in my horse network feed their horses products from this company-I have for as long as Iāve owned horses. I just want to be sure everyone is aware of their support of this person and the conditions these horses have been forced to endure; this many horses, young and old, close to death from neglect does not come from missing a few days of grain during flooding, as heās claimed. Itās a rather shocking stance for a feed company to want the deplorable treatment and condition of those horses to be associated with their feed.
These are two stories that were published today, and interestingly they each provide details that arenāt in the other so both are worth a read. It really ruins your faith in humanity.
3 Likes
well that is simply horrifying. they didnāt get grain for weeks because it was RAINING? surely the judge wonāt buy such bsā¦
2 Likes
Thanks for the updatesā¦I think I would be dropping Poulin Grain and the vet who testified on his behalf. Both are obviously clueless. I would also be writing letters to that judge if I were in VT.
5 Likes
In the interest of transparency, I reached out to the grain company last night, and they did respond with more context this morning. I can see how they were in a less than ideal position and the reporting didnāt share all the context.
5 Likes
Thank you for contacting them! I hope they can get the reporter to make a correction.
1 Like
Yeah, my mare came from a place going a little further down that road than would be ideal. Stallions turned out with mares, colts not gelded and not separated from fillies. My filly turned out to be pregnant, the sire being her half brother. They multiply like rabbits when you let them do whatever. There are quite a lot of youngstock there, ranging from new foals to 5-year olds, very few of which have any handling. Everything is in good condition, as far as I know, but it could become a situation that isnāt ideal.
Breeder has a good rep, and you can see that she used to market her youngsters on the normal sites where people sell that breed, but not so much in recent years.
1 Like
this is good to knowā¦hopefully the press picks it up and makes a correction on any further news releases!
3 Likes
Disappointing legal news this afternoonā¦the judge is allowing the owner to formally challenge the legality of the search warrant that resulted in the seizure that got the sickest horses out of there.
Snippets from the article
āWindham Superior Court Judge John Treadwell has ruled that the owner of Friesians of Majesty has the right to challenge the legality of the search warrant that was the basis of a raid this summer on his Townshend horse farm.
Judge John Treadwell, in a four-page entry order dated Sunday, gave Robert Labrie the option of asking for a full hearing on the issue Labrieās attorney raised on Sept. 13, almost two weeks ago. That motion to suppress claimed that the search warrant of his farm on July 19 was illegal.
Treadwell said Labrie had the right to challenge the legality of the search warrant, particularly since no criminal charges have been filed in the case.
ā¦
The state is seeking to have the horses forfeited so the Friesians and two Thoroughbreds can be adopted and the Dorset Equine Rescue can be reimbursed for the care it has given to the ailing horses. All but two of the horses have been cared for by the East Dorset-based non-profit; the others are in other foster situations.
Labrie so far has fought any forfeiture, and said the raid was a violation of his constitutional rights. He claimed in court that the horsesā poor condition was a result of an equine infection, and in some cases, poor teeth.ā
If this is the direction the court is going, itās hard not to feel like whatever animal welfare laws we have on the books are a complete joke.
Whose back pockets does Labrie inhabit?
5 Likes
Seriously effed up. What is the matter with VT? Time for the other side to take it to the press and put some pressure on to get this resolved sooner than later or horses will suffer.
4 Likes
I really donāt know. You donāt meet anyone in the local horse community that has a good thing to say about him. But clearly heās persuading someone that he was wronged. I just donāt understand how even a non-horse person looks at those pictures of more than a dozen horses who are racks of bones and thinks a couple of days of rain with no feeding made them that way!!
5 Likes
Finally some good news in the legal case. Judge ruled the seizure was justified, and has ordered the repayment of vet and care costs. And indicated the case is not closed, citing concerns around the condition of the 100 horses who remain on the farm. Weāll see what comes next.
13 Likes
thatās awesome! Thanks for the update!
