MASON CITY – After receiving information over the last 2 days from readers alerting us to possible mistreatment of a horse located just out side Mason City city limits, NorthIowatoday.com went to the scene to investigate the matter.
Sources had indicated that a horse appeared to be either injured or sick at a farm located at 14998 300th Street in rural Mason City, owned by Ralph Stricker.
One caller told NIT Tuesday morning that she travels past the location and that she and her co-workers had noticed the “poor shape” of horses at the location. “Several of us have called the sheriff,” the caller indicated.
At the scene – just to the north of County Road B20, about a mile west of Highway 65 – a horse was lying in a corn field surrounded by other horses, with a blue tarp over it. The horse at first appeared to be dead, but then could be seen breathing and moving. Other horses were approaching the animal and nudging it with their noses.
A sheriff’s deputy arrived to assess the situation. She indicated that she did not believe there was any mistreatment of the animal and that the only reason law enforcement had been called to the Stricker farm in the past was to corral animals which had gotten onto the roadway.
According to the deputy, the horse would be euthanized at about 2 PM Tuesday and may have laid in the field since Sunday night.
Mason City police told NIT today that since the property is not in city limits, they had never responded there and had no jurisdiction.
Calls to Stricker Construction went unanswered and a voice message was left and not immediately returned.
Watch video, including interview with sheriff’s deputy:
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UPDATE at 2:15 PM:
NIT has learned that the owner of the injured horse, Ralph Stricker, has been arrested for animal neglect.
Name: Stricker, Ralph Adam
Booking #: 14465
Housed At: SD
Gender: Male
DOB: 04-17-1923 (Age: 89)
Booked on 02-05-2013 at 12:52 for:
COURT/PENDING
717B.3
Animal Neglect
In Custody: 0 days.
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(13000656) Animal Reported: 02-04-2013 07:53
Report of horse down. Owner is providing care for the horse. Also received complaints from-Kathy Beck, Cindy Mueller, and Don Friebe.
Addresses Involved
14998 300 St , Mason City, IA 50401
Names Involved
(Arrested) Stricker, Ralph Adam (Age:90)
(Address:) 1419 2 Av S, Clear Lake, IA 50428
Officers Involved
(Primary) Officer Schupanitz, Brent
Officer Shannon, Jo
Officer Koob, Brian
Officer Cavett, Tami———–
SUBJECT IS INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY.
Katie and Watchdog: You should be ashamed of yourselves. This man has been neglecting animals for years and years. He should not be allowed to own animals. He is sick. Can’t his family do something about this because it seems the law does nothing. These animals do not deserve to suffer like this while this creep continues to abuse them. His farm should be searched and investigated and he should be put in jail.
They use a huge dose of the same stuff they use on dogs and cats to put horses down.
For those of you who want to place some blame on the Sheriffs. Take a look at these photos. The deputies did all they were legally allowed to do and comfort was one of them.
http://public.fotki.com/Meyer-SpearPhotos/horse-rescue/
Al tho I hope they take in consideration to get a court order to search that farm and the circumstances behind it. My opinion is that it took something very large to put a two thousand pound horse down like that,
I’m not stuck on stupid.
PLEASE Investigate.
Why didn’t the “readers” call Pals instead of Matt? Why did they and NIT wait a 2 days? Which allowed horse to suffer a couple more days.
All of you her are defending Mr. Stricker, pleast check the public record on Iowa Courts Online. Mr. Stricker has been charged with either Livestock Neglect, Animal Neglect, or Animal Cruelty 10 times since 2007. 3 of those were rolled into other charges and dismissed and 2 are still pending. This is not someone who was trying to do his best and, oh well… This is a serious, repeat offender who should not be allowed to have animals. He has already served time in jail and paid multiple fines because he CANNOT care for his animals. Apparently this did not make an impression on him. Maybe it is time for a couple of months in jail to try to get through to him.
This is not the first time Mr. Stricker has been charged with animal neglect. I hope it is the last.
It sounds to me as if Mr. Stricker had a veterinarian examine the horse on Monday and that Mr. Stricker perhaps decided to treat the animal with supportive veterinary care to see if she would improve. We don’t know what type of injury she had. The horse appears to be covered with blankets and a tarp to keep her warm. There was no way for him to get her to shelter once she was down, so it appears he did the best he could. I think he was trying to give her a shot at getting better. His other animals look well-fed on this video. When the horse didn’t respond to treatment, the decision was made to put her to sleep humanely. This is a very sad situation, but in his mind, he was probably hoping to save her life.
Did the police know that the mare could not be saved? I would like to know what the vet discovered when he came out the night before? I would hate to see that the horse was killed if there was any chance of saving it.
Witch hunt? Really??? People like this need to be prohibited from having animals that cannot supply their own feed, care, can only trust in their owners to care for them. To leave ANY animal in the freezing ice and cold, dragging its self with only it’s front legs, begging to be helped from their excruciating pain, begging to be out of the pain! That poor mare laid in mud and ice for days! Thank GOD there were neighbors that saw her! This brings me to tears. Mr Stricker May not be well and may have trusted Mr Neuberger to care for his animals, apparently, a really wrong choice! Unfortunately, the one who paid the price was a helpless animal. Shame on this jerk…put him behind bars for a very looking time! Animal lovers throughout this city need to come forward. No witch hunt involved. Who ever you are, anonymous, I count you out! I only want to see that this kind of abuse stopped!!!! These men need to be held responsible. Never be allowed to handle any animals again.
stricker always seems a little off, does he have any family that could get this guy help and take away his livestock.
He hasmoney, look at the car he drives, he has dementia, I knowhim.
Could someone contact the vet that was involved and get a report on the “actual” condition of the horse.
How did the horse get injured? If the horse was sick, then what was the nature of the horse’s sickness?
Was it impossible to transport the horse and get it veterinary care in such a way to heal the animal?
Is it possible that the owner of the horses may be suffering from dementia? Mr. Stricker should have family I hope. When you can’t talk sense to a fellow it is usually a sign of deeper problems.
Also, there seem to be a lot of people that are very emotional over this incident. While I would never, ever want to see an animal harmed in any way, it does appear that folks have become overly emotional in an mentally unhealthy manor due to this incident.
While Mr. Stricker is certainly not in the right here I don’t think people wanting him shot or putting him out in the cold makes them any better then Mr. Stricker. That in and of itself is sic.
GOT TO ONE OF THE SADDEST THINGS iVE SEEN IN A LONG TIME
Nice job Matt of being respectfull to the Deputy you interviewed!
This is the same place where a calf was hit by a car one night and the dead carcass layed in the ditch for weeks. Don’t know if the owner ever took care of it or if mother nature did?
WTF!!! What is the owner responsible for? Isn’t there some law about disposal of dead livestock?