Equine devotee faces 42 counts of animal abuse

The founder and onetime president of the Arabian Horse Club of Greater Toledo was charged Monday with 42 counts of animal cruelty after severely malnourished horses were discovered at her farm.

Robin Vess, 54, of Oak Harbor was charged with the second-degree misdemeanors in Ottawa County Municipal Court days after authorities removed 37 animals from her Carroll Township property.

Each cruelty charge carries a penalty of up to 90 days in jail and a $750 fine.

Ms. Vess has been an advocate for Arabian horses and was credited with setting up the first Arabian and Half Arabian Charity Show at the Lucas County Fair in 1990.

In an interview with the Blade in 1989, Ms. Vess said she was a longtime horse lover.

“I’ve been horse-crazy since I was little,” Ms. Vess said.

Rescuers arrived at her farm at 3140 North Behlman Rd. last week, acting on an anonymous tip to the Humane Society of Ottawa County.

The rescuers said they found at least 37 emaciated horses, suffering from malnutrition and dehydration.

Five horses had to be euthanized.

Thirty-one of the animals were taken to the Sandusky County Fairgrounds in Fremont, where Humane Society volunteers are tending to them.

Linda Logan, a former friend, said she had known Ms. Vess since 1987 and helped her set up the Arabian Horse Club.

She said at the time she was impressed with how Ms. Vess cared for her horses.

“I thought she was nice, very knowledgeable. She had it together. Her barn was very nice, her horses were nice,” Ms. Logan said.

However, Ms. Logan said their relationship deteriorated.

She said at times she became concerned that Ms. Vess’ horses were too thin.

Tom Fitzgibbon, current treasurer for the Arabain Horse Club of Greater Toledo, said Ms. Vess left the club about four years ago. He declined to elaborate on the reasons for her departure.

Terry Figueroa, who heads the Arabian Rescue Mission in Colesville, N.J. and whose organization was involved in the rescue operation, said she’s been receiving calls from anxious breeders whose horses were at the Vess farm.

“They’re just mortified,” Ms. Figueroa said.

Humane Society President Lisa Ramirez said it would take at least a month for the animals to recover.

“We’re doing the best we can to get the poor things back to some kind of health,” Ms. Ramirez said.

She said many people have come forward offering to adopt the animals.

However, she said the horses will have to stay at the fairgrounds right now because they are too weak and too sickly to move.

She said the cost of caring for the horses “is well into the thousands of dollars already.”

Many breeders who had horses at the farm are hoping to get their animals back.

Ms. Logan said she hoped to retrieve a Russian Arabian horse that she traded with Ms. Vess several years ago.

She said she spotted a picture of her former horse in the newspaper and was shocked.

“I was just devastated, totally devastated. How could somebody do that?” Ms. Logan said.

“I just want to get [the horse], put her on my cousin’s farm, and let her live out the rest of her life.”

The gates at the entrance to Ms. Vess’ farm were chained shut yesterday and a sign read “No Trespassing.”

A truck and two cars were parked in the driveway. Ms. Vess did not return a phone call seeking comment.

A court date has not been set in the case.
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Well, it proved out just the way I assumed it would. I posted this story a week ago, and it generated less then a half dozen comments. The most "scorching" having to do with "idiot towners". No government conspiracy takeovers, no charges of not being "with it and for it", no accusations of my self being a peta shill, no charges of not "supporting one of my own", and most telling no far left legal advocacy group playing chicken little and telling me the sky was falling. If you recall when I posted the Hoffman feline confiscation, and Von Uhl elephant confiscation, I told you how it was going to play out. It is always somebody else's fault, and the world is full of bandit's out to get us circus folks. The "history channel" post's pictures of Riddles Sanctuary, where their elephants were sold, and not only is there not an objection, there is accolades about what a wonderful place it is. Post pictures of Buckleys place or Derbys place and see the venom fly. What makes them different? Oh yes, that's right. Riddles, breds elephants, and buys them from friends, and the others don't breed them, and take them as gifts. Zoo's will breed them, so why can't they be elephant sanctuaries? If you are a "sanctuary" are you not for profit? If you buy elephants, is it from donations given, or profits made? Does buying elephant and breeding it mean it will have a better quality of life, over the one's donated and not bred? Where do the offspring go? To the bad zoo's? To the circus? Or are they kept for future breeding?