Cherokee, a 30-something year old horse was rescued by the Pennsylvania SPCA after being found near starvation in Union County.  The Shelter states the horse’s owner is Frank Danowsky of Kelly Township and they do not yet know how long the horse was living in the conditions in which it was found.

The Pennsylvania SPCA in Danville states that in two weeks, Cherokee has already gained 25 pounds.  With his bones still very prominent, he has a long way to go.

Update 12/6/06:  SPCA officials are "appalled" over a district judge's ruling that cleared the owner of an emaciated horse while criticizing how the animal advocates handled the case.

District Judge Leo Armbruster of Union County found the animal's owner, Franklin Danowsky, not guilty on three counts of animal mistreatment.

In his ruling, the judge said "anyone except the most rabid cause-driven advocates could see" that Danowsky was kind and decent.

"We were pretty much appalled by the decision," said Joe Fellencer, the manager of the Danville SPCA, where the pony was placed after being taken from Danowsky.

"Many people were outraged ... This decision was a great injustice," Fellencer continued.

The horse, named Cherokee, was seized by the SPCA in July after several people driving past Danowsky's Lewisburg-area home reported seeing a malnourished equine.

Cherokee's former owners say he was skinny, but not ill. "He was a thin horse and he was an old horse," Danowsky said. Cherokee was in his mid 30s, equivalent to about 108 human years.

Despite the horse's age, a local veterinarian who treated Cherokee at the SPCA says all physical evidence pointed to neglect.

The animal gained 200 pounds while in the SPCA's care, according to Fellencer, but died in October of intestinal parasites. The infestation had been in the horse's digestive tract for a few years and the parasites, living in the pockets of his stomach, eventually ate a hole through the stomach lining.

Armbruster's legal opinion charged that the SPCA was using Cherokee as a "poster-horse" for fundraising and trying Danowsky in the local media.

"I found it very odd that a judge issued a written verdict in such a personal manner," said Fellencer. He added that the court opinion was "very uncalled for."

The SPCA and its attorney, William Kreisher, are still deciding on whether to appeal.

The judge also claimed the SPCA was premature in requesting a search warrant for Danowsky's property.

John Matrisciano, a humane officer from the State College area, says he went to investigate the case and serve a warning on July 13.  "This is the most emaciated animal I've seen in my life," he said. The animal's joints and ribs were clearly visible, and it had lesions on one hoof and a eyelid, according to the officer.

Five days later, Matrisciano returned to the farm to sequester the horse.  "It doesn't take a professional to see that something is wrong," Matrisciano said of the gelding. "I was aghast that he was actually upright."

At the time, Danowsky told Matrisciano he had made an appointment with a veterinarian, but was unable to prove it that day.  "I justified the quickness of my response," said Matrisciano. "I mean, how many weeks do you give this?"

In the wake of the decision, Danowsky stated the SPCA took Cherokee specifically to use for fundraising. "I think they needed donations at the time," he said.

Fellencer disagrees. He says they took the pony for its own well-being, not for money. Donations given to the SPCA are distributed throughout statewide sites, he added.

Danowsky also claimed that the organization tried to put the horse up for adoption even though it still belonged to his family.

SPCA officials, though, deny that adoption was ever considered.

The family was unaware that Cherokee had died until over a month after the fact, a point the judge called "beyond common decency."

It was an oversight on the part of the SPCA, said Fellencer. "(There) certainly was no intent to hide this," added Matrisciano. "We were all very surprised when he died."

Judge Armbruster also said the SPCA should not have mentioned Danowsky by name in the press. But Fellencer says the group did not release the name to the media.   The owner's name became public when charges were filed at the Union County Courthouse.

A courthouse clerk said it was rare for Armbruster to write a legal opinion at all. But, because of the inflammatory nature of the case, he opted for one.

Dr. Lise Lund, an independent veterinarian from Millville, tended to Cherokee at the SPCA and was present at the post-mortem necropsy.  She says that everything she saw indicated neglect. "His medical record was a slam dunk," she said. According to Lund, Cherokee's apparent malnourishment was reported to authorities numerous times over a two-year period.

Although there was horse food at the Danowsky residence, the pony's teeth were in such poor shape that it could not consume it. Lund called it the "equivalent of someone with no teeth being fed beef jerky."

The animal had also been without veterinary care for the past 20 years, Lund says.

Dr. Lise Lund, a veterinarian, said that instead of seeking a vet to care for the animal, the Danowsky's tried to care for the animal themselves.

"They had not had a vet look at the pony in 20 years," she said. "If you don't have adequate knowledge, you don't rely on the guy at the feed store."

Dr. Lund testified as an expert witness on behalf of the SPCA at the summary trial before District Judge Armbruster and she said that she felt like the testimony clearly showed that the charges - of failure to seek veterinary care for the animal, failure to provide proper hoof care for the animal and failure to provide necessary sustenance - had been warranted.

The pony was suffering from a long-term parasitic infestation, a situation that would have been avoided had the pony received appropriate care, she said.

"Standard procedure for equines" requires that the animal be de-wormed about every two months.

The parasites had been in the pony's system for so long that they'd worked their way into the lining of its intestines. The parasites were so deeply ingrained in the animal's system that when the vet checked a fecal sample from the pony, those parasites didn't show up in the sample.

She characterized the pony's medical condition as "very abnormal."

She said the district judge's decision showed a "complete disregard for the medical evidence" that "bordered on a breach of judicial discretion."

The description of the circumstances of the case included in the district judge's decision "was in direct contradiction of my testimony," she said.

"He has attacked my professional credibility. It's beyond insulting," the veterinarian said.

She said the judge "interjected a great deal of unfounded medical opinion."  "(The judge's) opinion is offensive legally and morally," she added.

Update 12/7/06:  The Union County couple who last week were found not guilty of animal cruelty charges stemming from the condition of a pony they had owned for 27 years, said the summary trial would have been unnecessary if animal welfare advocates had worked with them instead of seizing the animal last summer.

Not surprisingly though, Mr. and Mrs. Danowsky welcomed the judge's decision.

"I would like to thank Leo Armbruster, and our attorney Ray Lobos and all our family and friends who helped us through this," Mrs. Danowsky said.

The Danowsky's got Cherokee in 1979.

He was just one of several animals that they'd owned over the years - including a cat, "Missy," that they'd had for 14 years; a dog, "Smokey" they had had for 16 years; and one of Smokey's offspring, "Ginger." They had "Ginger" for 14 years.

Not to mention "Annie" the cow they had for 16 years after they decided they couldn't stand to butcher her, Mrs. Danowsky said.

Danowsky said the first time somebody from the SPCA stopped at the Danowsky residence, Mr. and Mrs. Danowsky were out-of-town. But, after being notified that Cherokee's condition had attracted notice, he called a vet.

Then Danowsky told an SPCA officer that the vet was scheduled to come.  If that vet had said the animal was beyond hope, then the Danowsky's would have had the animal euthanized.

"We had a good time with him," she said. "I do miss him."  Mrs. Danowsky added that while she and her husband were the ones on trial for abusing the animal, the organization that was supposed to be seeking to protect the animal mistreated the family that had owned him for decades.

"I can't believe (those at the SPCA) treated us the way they did. They treated us like they thought they were better than us," Mrs. Danowsky said. "They were cruel to us. They didn't let us see him" and then after the animal died, the representatives of the SPCA didn't notify the Danowsky's for more than a month.

"Cherokee died of a broken heart because we were not able to visit him," Mrs. Danowsky said. And among those called to testify during the summary trial before District Judge Armbruster was the Danowsky's grandson, Daniel Danowsky.

"I will never forget the look on my 12-year-old grandson's face when he testified," Mrs. Danowsky said.  The boy "fought so hard to hold back the tears" while he spoke in the court hearing but when he was done, she said.

The whole situation would have been avoided if the volunteers from the SPCA had communicated with her and her husband, she said.  "If they live in town and then they come out to the country, before they judge us, they should talk to us first," she said. "When people see a skinny horse, they don't talk to the owner, they jump to conclusions."

But Dr. Lund said that she has decades of experience working with horses, as does Kelly Smith-Wells, an agriculture teacher at Danville Area High School, who accompanied the SPCA enforcement officer who went to the Danowsky's home to seize Cherokee.

"That pony was so weak (when it was seized), it was hardly moving. I was amazed it could stand," Ms. Smith-Wells said. "(Armbruster) was not present when we rescued that poor pony so he did not see the emaciated body that he refers to as 'a beloved family pet.' ... I am appalled that a public official would turn his head and look the other way at such a gross example of animal cruelty."

Dr. Lund said the case is illustrative of the difficulty advocates have getting animal welfare cases successfully prosecuted. "Pennsylvania has woefully inadequate animal cruelty laws," she said.

Ms. Smith-Wells said she's glad the pony died at the SPCA so it didn't get placed in the care of the Danowsky family again.  When the SPCA officials took the pony from the Danowsky's property, the welfare of the animal didn't seem to be a priority of its owners, she said.  "All they were worried about was that they were going to be on TV," Ms. Smith-Wells said.

But Mrs. Danowsky said that while the district judge's decision was appreciated, the ultimate judge knows what happened to Cherokee.  "You can't keep anything from our Lord and Savior," she said. "He sees and hears everything we do. We can't hide from him."

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