CARA PESEK / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Tuesday, July 12, 2005 7:00 pm
A Lincoln attorney and a Saline County farmer pleaded innocent to four counts each of misdemeanor animal cruelty Tuesday in Saline County Court.
Barry Lake, a former president of National Warranty Insurance Group, and Sheldon Kohout were charged earlier this month with animal cruelty after horses that belonged to Lake and appeared sick and malnourished were found last year on land about eight miles southeast of Friend.
Saline County Sheriff Alan Moore said his office received a complaint in December about the condition of the animals. His office investigated and found about 20 thoroughbreds in a pasture and four yearling thoroughbreds in a barn.
"Three of them (the yearlings) were in not real good condition, and the fourth was in not very good condition at all," Moore said. He would not elaborate except to say one of the yearlings eventually died.
Moore declined to describe the condition of the other horses.
The sheriff's department hired a veterinarian to look over the horses, and deputies periodically checked up on them, too, Moore said. The horses did show some signs of improvement, he said. Still, deputy Saline County attorney Steven Reisdorff filed charges against Lake and Kohout. Reisdorff declined comment Tuesday.
Kohout said he sometimes fed the horses but was not caring for them at the time of the investigation. He declined to comment further, and his attorney, Craig Wittstruck, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Lake's attorney, Brett McArthur, does not dispute that the horses were in poor condition.
But there was a reason they were sick with a parasitic illness that was difficult to treat, he said.
Two equine veterinarians were caring for the horses at the time the sheriff's office was investigating, McArthur said. It's true a yearling died, he said, but tests run after its death revealed nothing could have been done to save the young horse.
Lake, who raises thoroughbreds and races them at Fonner Park in Grand Island, was stunned by the allegations of abuse, McArthur said.
"Mr. Lake is a very good and very responsible caretaker of horses, and he has an excellent reputation in the horse-racing community," he said.
Valerie Hinderlider isn't so sure.
Hinderlider, who runs a horse-rescue operation near Minden called the Break Heart Ranch, called the Saline County sheriff's office, the Saline County attorney and others about the condition of Lake's horses. She was prompted to do so after seeing a videotape showing the condition of the animals.
"Some of those horses were nothing but walking skin and bones," she said.
She also contacted People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which posted an action alert on its Web site urging Saline County to file charges.
McArthur said Hinderlider, PETA and others blew the situation out of proportion.
And it's not even a problem anymore, he said, as the surviving animals have been treated.
The case will go to trial Sept. 15.
Lake was president of National Warranty Insurance Group for a few months in 2002 and 2003. He resigned shortly before the company went under in June 2003.
In the 1980s, Lake was a state banking official during the failure of Commonwealth Savings Co. He had been fired during the investigation but was later cleared of any wrongdoing.
As recently as April, he was working for National Warranty's liquidator, the partners of KPMG Caymans.
Reach Cara Pesek at 473-7361 or cpesek@journalstar.com.