County Holds Horses

Custody is transferred as former owner gets bill for care

By Suevon Lee
STAR-BANNER

Thursday, August 14, 2008

OCALA --A judge on Wednesday gave Marion County permanent custody of 123 horses and miniature ponies that were seized from their owner in late May following an extended period of neglect and maltreatment.

JANNET WALSH/STAR-BANNER

Some of the horses of Francine Derby are being kept in a pasture along Southeast 24th Street, Ocala. Derby is accused of neglecting more than 100 horses.

County Judge Steven G. Rogers also ordered that the owner, Francine Derby, be held responsible for $15,000 of the nearly $25,000 the county spent for hauling the horses from four properties and bringing them back to health.

"Obviously, the care was something that was lacking here," Rogers said after listening to an hour's worth of testimony from county officials and animal care experts and viewing photographs of the horses.

Wednesday afternoon's hearing at the Marion County Courthouse came nearly three months after the county filed an emergency petition for protective custody of the horses, which witnesses described in court as once severely malnourished, crawling with parasites and suffering from overgrown hoofs.

Not all of the animals made it; five horses have since been euthanized, while two have died from malnutrition.

They are currently being in housed in fields around Marion and Citrus counties, according to Animal Center Director Jill Lancon. The horses will undergo medical tests and be put up for adoption.

"I've got a running list of people who are interested," Lancon said.

Derby, a Fort McCoy resident once described by a friend as a "one-woman rescue mission" who took the horses under her wing and kept them on properties from Summerfield to Belleview, was not present at the hearing and could not be reached for comment by phone.

"She's gone underground," County Attorney Thomas Wright said. He said the county will not pursue its case in Circuit Court, where a judge could order Derby to pay the full cost of rehabilitating the horses. County judges are limited to awarding damages up to $15,000.

In June, Derby, 44, said in an interview that she was feeling overwhelmed by the number of horses left in her care and that she had entered into agreements to transfer ownership to other individuals. She was also hampered by poor quality hay and feed, she said.

But several animal experts said in court that they were especially startled by the sight of protruding bones and deformities on the animals, since miniature ponies are fairly easy to keep.

"It was disturbing. It really takes effort to starve miniature horses," said Marilyn Maler, a veterinarian who examined the horses.

Kim Thompson, an acquaintance of Derby's who was at the hearing, said the county has exaggerated the horses' condition and that she is entitled to have custody of them.

"They took advantage of this woman," she said after the hearing. Thompson rose from her seat during the hearing in efforts to be heard but was ordered by the judge to immediately sit back down.

Morgan Silver, executive director of the Horse Protection Association of Florida, testified that she first noticed the neglected horses in April 2003, when she happened to pass by Derby's Fort McCoy farm.

She observed curled-up hoofs, "like elf shoes," and six to seven horses to a feeding pan. "They would be fighting each other off," she said.

"This is probably one of the worst cases I've ever seen with horses that are neglected and suffering," Lancon said. "I was just horrified that someone could allow this to happen to their horses."

Suevon Lee may be reached at suevon.lee@starbanner.com or 352-867-4065.