<\/p>\n
John Monahan, right, is suing Unbridled Sanctuary to get his miniature horse Teddy back after the equine was hit by a train.<\/p>\n
Courtesy of Monahan family<\/p>\n
SAUGERTIES\u00a0\u2014 A family whose miniature horse was severely injured after being struck by a train<\/a> earlier this month is suing the rescue organization that took custody of the animal, disputing claims they gave up ownership.<\/p>\n Teddy, a brown-and-white miniature horse, escaped his paddock in Saugerties with his companion, Duke, after a bear damaged their fence in the early hours of April 8. A few hours later, Teddy was hit by a\u00a0CSX train just south of Catskill, suffering a fractured vertebra and rib, along with a large, bone-deep gash to his left hindquarters.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Greene County sheriff\u2019s deputies who responded to the scene initially did not know who owned the horse and called Unbridled Sanctuary, a Greenville-based rescue organization, for assistance. Although Teddy\u2019s owner, John Monahan, eventually arrived, Unbridled\u00a0\u2014 not Monahan\u00a0\u2014 transported the horse to Rhinebeck Equine, where he remains under treatment.<\/p>\n Unbridled Sanctuary expected Teddy would be returned to its care after recovering. But Monahan, through his attorney and daughter-in-law, now disputes founder Susan Kayne\u2019s claim that the family relinquished ownership.<\/p>\n In a lawsuit filed Friday in state Supreme Court in Ulster County, Monahan is seeking Teddy\u2019s return.<\/p>\n Make the Times Union a Preferred Source on Google to see more of our journalism when you search.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe have all the documentation to show that Teddy is well taken care of and well-loved and documentation that states he\u2019s ours,\u201d Monahan\u2019s daughter-in-law, Samantha Conklin, said.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Conklin said Monahan was put in an impossible position at the scene.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was basically told, \u2018We\u2019re not going to get your horse to safety unless you give up your rights,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m not sure how anyone would respond to that situation.\u201d<\/p>\n Teddy has been receiving care at\u00a0Rhinebeck Equine.<\/p>\n Courtesy of Susan Kayne<\/p>\n According to Conklin and the family\u2019s attorney, Ann Weaver, Monahan never signed any paperwork surrendering ownership. Weaver described the scene as chaotic.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody was yelling and screaming,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen the incident occurred, they wouldn\u2019t let (Monahan) go get his trailer to take the pony to the vet.\u201d<\/p>\n But in a text message to the Times Union, Kayne said seven people\u00a0\u2014 including three sheriff\u2019s deputies\u00a0\u2014 witnessed Monahan verbally transfer ownership to Unbridled Sanctuary at the scene. The sheriff\u2019s office incident report \u201cdoes reflect that ownership of the injured pony was relinquished to Unbridled Sanctuary at the scene,\u201d according to Undersheriff Tracey Quinn, a department spokesperson.<\/p>\n The Times Union has submitted a freedom of information request for the body-camera footage and sworn statements of the responding officers.<\/p>\n Conklin and Weaver said the family is not seeking monetary damages and is not pursuing Kayne personally.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cWe appreciate people like her because there are horses or animals that are in need or do need help, but Teddy is not one of them,\u201d Conklin said. \u201cWe have the funds and ability to make sure he has a great life.\u201d<\/p>\n Weaver added that Monahan is willing to cover all veterinary expenses and reimburse Unbridled Sanctuary for transporting Teddy to Rhinebeck.<\/p>\n According to a recent update on Unbridled Sanctuary\u2019s Facebook page<\/a>, Teddy\u2019s veterinary care has exceeded $15,000, with more than $8,000 raised so far<\/a>.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Conklin said the family\u00a0\u2014 including Duke\u00a0\u2014 misses Teddy deeply.<\/p>\n \u201cMy father-in-law and mother-in-law are heartbroken,\u201d she said. \u201cMy two autistic nephews and niece are heartbroken. These horses aren\u2019t just animals. They\u2019re therapeutic. \u2026 We just want our family to be whole again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"John Monahan, right, is suing Unbridled Sanctuary to get his miniature horse Teddy back after the equine was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":205924,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[611,612,844,9,11,10,49,51,50,12,27536],"class_list":["post-205923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-hvexp","tag-hvnews","tag-latestnews","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news","tag-news","tag-ulstco"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n