Police: Horses Found Suffering, Some Dead

Details: Created on Tuesday, 04 March 2014 14:31; Written by Tyler Dumont

LYNDONVILLE - At least 3 horses were found dead and 21 others were rescued from a Northeast Kingdom farm over the weekend.

Police say they received a tip late Friday about a "dead horse" at the Bona Ranch on Back Center Road, so they got a search warrant to investigate. When they arrived Saturday afternoon, farm owner Bruce Bona relinquished custody of nearly two dozen horses to the Caledonia County Sherriff's Dept.

Police said they received allegations that up to six horses had died on the property, but could only confirm that they found the remains of three.

Humane society volunteers said the horses were found in deplorable conditions and "standing in about eighteen inches of manure."

According to Adam Bergeron, an Animal Cruelty Investigator in Caledonia county, there has been an ongoing investigation at the Bona Ranch for over several weeks.

"The initial complaint was regarding horses that were lacking food and water," Bergeron said. "I've been working with the owner of the horses the last few weeks to try to rectify the situation and ensure that he was educated and knew what was required of having that amount of horses."

Despite Bergeron's attempts to work with Bona, the conditions remained unsafe, police said.

"From the perspective of the owner, he felt like he was doing what he could," he said. "There was signs of some water and some hay being fed to the horses - but it wasn't sufficient for them to sustain the weight that they should be at."

Volunteer Pat Mitchell is the president of the Elizabeth H. Browne Humane Society in Victory, and she says that she's been receiving complaints about the treatment of Bona's horses for years. And last month, Mitchell said, she decided to take action by contacting Bona herself. On February 10, Mitchell says she went to Bona's house to speak to him about the conditions of his animals.

"I told him I was here to investigate a complaint that had come into me. I told him if I could take a look at the horses it would clear things up and I'd be on my way," Mitchell said. "He told me to come back at three o'clock. So I did. But then he asked me where my legal papers were. I said I don't have any, I just figured we could talk about it."

Mitchell said that when Bona told her she couldn't enter his barn, she became even more concerned - and forwarded some of the complaints she received to police. This past weekend, she helped gather dozens of volunteers to rescue the horses by bringing them to "foster farms" around Vermont.

But when she showed up at the property to coordinate rescue efforts, Mitchell said the conditions she saw were inhumane.

"This is the Auschwitz for horses, which meant a concentration camp," Mitchell said. "I ended up crying all night. It was the most horrid situation for horses."

Mitchell said that what bothers her the most is that she tried to help before police seized the animals.

She said she dropped off a blanket she had picked up in Montpelier and food for one of Bona's horses last week, but when she arrived Saturday the blanket hadn't been unfolded from it's package - and the bag of food was still sealed.

"Mr. Bona has firsthand knowledge that I run a humane society. He knows if he would've called me I would've much rather helped him to get them out of there," she said. "How they could sleep at night knowing those horses were out there with nothing to eat and nothing to drink - they were eating ice, they were eating their own manure. The whole inside of the barn is disgusting. Horses will chew, but these chewed because they had to."

Bona's father, Fred, was the former owner of the farm and also owned "The White Market", a popular local grocery outlet. When Fred Bona died last year, his son took over ownership of the farm.

The horses are now in the custody of the Caledonia County Sherriff's Dept., and are being cared for at various agencies and local farms.

Police haven't yet made any arrests, but said criminal charges are likely.

A message left for Bona was not immediately returned Tuesday morning.

Donations to the care of the horses can be made to the Elizabeth H. Browne Humane Society, 80 Buttonwood Lane, Victory, VT, 05858 or by calling (802) 695-2925.