Sentence Against Two Stone Barns Livestock Guardian Dogs Being Carried Out
News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
The two livestock guardian dogs at Stone Barns Center who last year managed to get loose fatally injuring a poodle and attacking its owner last February have run out of time.
Appeals to spare Luna, a six-year-old Great Pyrenees, and Owyn, a five-year-old Akbash, who were involved in the attack have run out. Luna was euthanized on Jan. 14 while Owyn, is scheduled to meet his end this Wednesday.
In a trial in Mount Pleasant Justice Court last spring following the filing of a complaint, the two dogs were sentenced to be put down after they were declared to be dangerous dogs under Section 123 of the state’s Agriculture and Markets Law.
Appeals to the Appellate Term launched last spring were exhausted last month, upholding the local court’s dangerous dog determination. On Jan. 9, Town Justice Robert Ponzini ruled against the petitioners who sought to have the dogs’ sentence reduced.
Reached last week, Stone Barns Center issued a statement acknowledging that there were no alternatives left but to surrender the dogs and have them euthanized.
“We made every conceivable effort to prevent the euthanasia of the dogs,” the Stone Barns statement read. “Our lawyers assured us that all possible avenues had been exhausted, and our appeal was denied. The appellate court upheld the trial court’s decision.”
However, the breeder of Owyn and an animal rights activist accused Stone Barns of failing to properly manage the dogs and argued it didn’t do enough to save either one or both of the dogs’ lives.
Paulie Drexler, who bred Owyn on Springside Farm in upstate Fabius, N.Y. near Syracuse, said Stone Barns failed to install proper fencing and never reached out to her for help. Drexler has been keeping Owyn since the appeals process has been playing out. Originally, he was housed at Kinderhook Farm in Columbia County with Luna before being shipped in September to his breeder.
“He’s such a good boy,” Drexler said of Owyn. “He’s paying the price. He’s paying the price for incredibly bad management.”
Drexler said that Stone Barns bought Owyn from her when he was about six weeks old and never appealed to her for help. She said she was told that last year’s incident with the poodle and its owner was not the first time containment had been an issue.
“They get him from me when he was a puppy and breeder support has always been a foundational part of my business with the dogs,” Drexler said. “They never once reached out to me, saying they were having containment problems.”
Stone Barns declined to address Drexler’s comments and stood by its statement.
Meanwhile, Georgia Ranney, of Kinderhook Farm, who had handled Luna since the incident until she was sent for the court-ordered euthanasia, said that Luna had been “a troubled dog,” likely poorly bred with behavioral issues. Luna was bred on another upstate farm.
Ranney said she noticed the dog would be scared of the wind and wouldn’t eat out of bowls.
“From my experience working with these dogs for I don’t know how many years, she really wasn’t bred to do what she was being asked to do,” Ranney said.
A local animal advocate, Ninoshka De Leon Gill, who was heavily involved in the efforts to save the dogs including having been part of a petition drive last year, charged that Stone Barns preferred to wash its hands of the incident instead of fighting to protect the dogs.
Gill said the dogs had no incidents in their homes while they awaited their fate.
“It’s just saying to me, the first chance we get, let’s do this quick,” she said.
Attempts to acquire the dogs were not considered because the two farms and other animal rights activists had no standing in the matter.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/