Horse owner charged with cruelty
‘Horrific’ conditions found at Ludlow barn
Two horses with hooves so overgrown they looked like “corkscrews” had to be dug out of a 4-foot pile of manure in a Ludlow backyard barn in what one MSPCA-Angell official is calling the worst case of horse neglect he’s seen in nearly four decades.
The mares — an 11-yearold Arabian-quarter horse cross named Tia and a 13year-old Arabian named Shakira — were freed on Feb. 5 after nearly two hours of digging through manure by MSPCA-Angell Law Enforcement and Adoption Center personnel, said Rob Halpin, the not-for-profit’s spokesman.
Tia was underweight, and her hooves had been neglected for so long that they were “twisted almost like corkscrews,” affecting the bone structure of her legs, said Roger Lauze, the MSPCA’s manager of equine rescue and training. She also had sores on her back from standing on piles of manure so high that her back was pressed into the building’s rafters, Lauze said.
“I’ve been working for the MSPCA for nearly 40 years, and I’ve never seen anything that bad — that much manure and feet in that bad shape,” he said. “It was pretty horrific.”
The horses’ owner, Nancy L. Golec of Ludlow, surrendered them to the MSPCA and was arraigned on Feb. 24 in Palmer District Court on four counts of felony animal cruelty — two for unsanitary conditions and two for unnecessary suffering, Halpin said. Golec, who faces up to seven years in prison and a $5,000 fine on each count, was released on her own recognizance pending an April 29 pretrial conference. She could not be reached for comment Friday.
Wilbraham Animal Control Officer Rick Seldomridge said he was tipped off about the horses by an anonymous person who sent him photos, which he forwarded to the MSPCA.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Seldomridge said. “It was horrible.”
Tia and Shakira are now recuperating at the MSPCA’s Nevins Farm in Methuen and will be put up for adoption after they’ve healed, Lauze said.
“It’s going to be a long haul, especially for Tia,” he said. “The veterinarian and farrier (who trims and shoes horses’ hooves) believe it’s going to take at least a year to a year and a half to get her hooves back to what is natural. She’s on medication because she was definitely in pain.”
Tia’s radiographs show immense deformation of the coffin bones in her hind hooves, among other bone changes that could forever compromise her health, Lauze said.
X-rays also confirmed changes to the coffin bones of both of Shakira’s front hooves, he said, but the staff hopes these changes won’t further erode the quality of her life.
“We’re going to do everything possible to help them live the rest of their lives without pain,” Lauze said. “They’re very friendly horses. They like people, which is surprising.”