Erbe: A horse trainer goes to jail

Last week horse fans breathed a collective sigh of relief - especially those of us concerned for the welfare of thoroughbred racehorses. Ernie Paragallo was a huge presence in New York State thoroughbred racing and breeding for many years. Last week he was convicted, fined and sent to jail for two years (the maximum penalty) for starving and neglecting many of the 177 thoroughbreds on his upstate New York facility, Center Brook Farm.

At his trial earlier this year it was revealed many of his horses were hundreds of pounds underweight, hadn't been fed in weeks and were lice- or worm-infested. Most were given to horse rescue groups to be re-homed. Six were in such bad shape they had to be euthanized. Such is the fate of thoroughbreds who happen into the hands of bad trainers or owners, and who no longer win at the track.

Paragallo was seen as a success because his horses won more than $20 million in purses, according to the New York Times. But now he will go down in track history as a peerless example of what no one else in the industry wants to be, or at least what no one in the industry wants to get caught doing.

Paragallo certainly does not represent or reflect the behavior of all track horse owners, just the worst of them. But his legacy may serve to make life easier for thoroughbreds in the future. The publicity his case generated has enlightened many Americans to the cruelty perpetrated by too many thoroughbred breeders and trainers.

Breeding associations often offer financial incentives to an industry that already over-breeds. But Paragallo's case is making associations realize they must now kick in to help keep the gallant beasts alive and well-fed after they are of no use to the humans who brought them into the world purely to make money. Otherwise the industry is cast into public relations hell.

Paragallo's case has already spurred some horse owners and trainers to help find second homes for retired thoroughbreds. The New York Racing Association, for example, raised $125,000 to work with the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation to try to find homes for all former racehorses in New York State.

The rescue money is a pittance compared to what's spent on and won at the track. But it's a start, because never before have breeding associations shown any concern for the equine detritus they cause to spawn - the hundreds of thousands of horses who are injured or unwanted and sent off to a horrific end at a young age.

Thoroughbred racing is a dying sport because it relies on slots and gambling to keep it afloat. But gamblers no longer need rely on race tracks for a fix. There's Internet gambling, casino gambling, heck, even buying lottery tickets, if bettors are so inclined. If breeders' incentives went away and interest in thoroughbred racing were allowed to die a natural death, untold thousands of horses would be spared the hell on earth of being brought into the world, to be overworked, over-raced and then sent off to slaughter.

Thoroughbreds are hardly the only equines or animals that are over-bred. The American Quarter Horse Association is the largest equine breed registry in the world. And we all know millions of cats and dogs are killed at shelters each year because there are too many of them.

Nonetheless it's a simple fact that if thoroughbred breeding were restricted, fewer horses would be shipped to slaughter. I love the comments made by Judge George J. Pulver Jr. at Paragallo's sentencing. He said, "Your moral compass is out of kilter and points you in improper directions...Your sense of integrity, your code of conduct, your perception of right and wrong was perhaps formed by your days on either mean streets or Wall Street."

The same can and should be said to anyone who makes a living off animal over-breeding or misery.

Bonnie Erbe is a TV host and writes this column for Scripps Howard News Service. E-mail bonnieerbe@CompuServe.com.