In the latest development in an ongoing animal cruelty investigation, the owner of the Friesians of Majesty horse farm was charged last week with animal cruelty and violating conditions of release. Authorities seized more than three dozen horses from the property.
Thirty-nine horses were removed from a private Townshend, Vt., business as part of an investigation by the Fish & Wildlife Department Game Warden Service, Department of Public Safety’s Animal Welfare Division and Vermont State Police, Joshua Morse, a spokesperson for the Fish & Wildlife Department, confirmed to VtDigger in a statement.
“The 39 horses have been moved to a private partner that can provide adequate space and care,” the statement read.
Friesians owner Robert Labrie faces a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a $2,000 fine under the animal cruelty charge. The charge for violating conditions of release could result in up to six months in prison and a $1,000 fine.
Jen Straub, executive director of Dorset Equine Rescue, said this was the fourth time she has assisted an investigation at Friesians of Majesty. The rescue has taken in 74 horses from the farm since the first seizure in 2023, she said.
Straub said she has aided in animal welfare investigations numerous times over the years in Vermont and other states, but the recent operation was by far the most horses the organization has taken in one seizure.
Approximately 25 horses remain on the farm, she said.
Straub said the seized horses had various ailments, including emaciation, skin infections or other injuries, some of which were left untreated. Two of the 39 horses needed to be hospitalized, she added.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Detective Sgt. David Taddei for the Department of Fish & Wildlife’s Warden Service wrote he visited the Townshend farm last Tuesday after obtaining a warrant to investigate potential animal cruelty.
State Veterinarian Kaitlynn Levine accompanied Taddei and identified horses that were underweight. The duo said they witnessed “unacceptable conditions for horses to be living in,” according to the affidavit.
“They did not have access to shelter and there was no natural shelter,” the affidavit stated. “Their entire paddock was mud and horse feces, with the exception of a large rock in the upper area of the paddock, which all the horses were competing to stand on.”
Labrie was arrested last Tuesday morning on an animal cruelty charge. Labrie was ordered to appear in court in Brattleboro, Vt., the next day, and then he was released from the Westminster State Police Barracks on the condition that he not return to the farm until after the state had completed its investigation.
However, Labrie returned to the property last Tuesday afternoon while the search was ongoing and was arrested a second time, according to a probable cause affidavit by Warden Noelle Kline.
Labrie refused to sign citation documents as well as the bail and conditions of release orders after both arrests, according to court filings.
Straub said some of the 39 horses will remain at the Dorset rescue, while others are set to go to rescue farms in Maine and Maryland while the case proceeds.
“To absorb 39 horses when you already have a full rescue full of horses is really, really challenging,” Straub said. “We are really grateful that a couple of other rescues were able to step up and offer help to take in some of the horses, so once they’re medically sound and stable, we will be transferring some to them.”
Straub said a judge ordered the 13 horses seized in 2023 to be forfeited to Dorset Equine Rescue, and most have since been adopted. But the horses seized in 2024 from the Townshend farm have not been forfeited through the court system and are still under the rescue’s care.
Dorset Equine Rescue is tasked with covering all medical bills, transportation, food and staff to care for the horses because neither the state nor federal government provide funding for animal welfare organizations in Vermont, she said.
Straub said she purchased a 178-acre property in Rupert, Vt., after a fundraiser last year. She set up temporary fencing and structures on the property for the influx of horses from the Townshend farm. Straub plans to launch a fundraiser to build permanent structures to expand the rescue’s capacity and better meet the high need to care for rescued horses.
“We get asked to take horses every single day, whether it’s from a neglect case or the owner surrenders (because) they can’t afford the horses,” Straub said. “The need is huge.”
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