By EAST AURORA NEWS (7/12/2010 12:40:00 PM)
73 horses and 53 cats and 4 dogs were taken from an East Aurora farm back in March when the SPCA received a tip that the living conditions at Beth Hoskins horse farm were poor. Since that time Hoskins has been persuing to get her horses back through legal challenges.
Just last week State Supreme Court Justice Joseph R. Glownia ruled that 40 of Hoskins' horses should be returned. The process started Thursday and Hoskins is said to be "euphoric".
Ever since the saga began Hoskins and the SPCA have been in a war of words with the SPCA claiming that the horses were living in horrible conditions. They alleged that the horse stalls were filled with manure and urine and the horses were rarely, if ever, let outdoors. It's not clear how the SPCA would know that unless they had been monitoring them 24/7.
Since the judges ruling the District Attorney's office is upping the charges from 10 to as many as 120 to represent each animal instead of each victim. Hoskins has countered by saying she is being unfairly targetted by the SPCA and that spring is probably the worst time as far as the appearance of the horses and the farm because the horses are just starting to shed their winter coats and that is exactly when the raid took place.
Dozens of protestors were at last weeks hearing and have been spotted around Hoskins' farm.
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