Woman sentenced after Lollypop Farm investigators find 10 neglected horses

CARLTON, N.Y. — An Orleans County woman was sentenced for neglecting 10 horses on her property. Three of those horses had to be euthanized.

Investigators from Lollypop Farm’s Humane Law Enforcement say they found her horses covered in their own feces in stalls full of old straw. They say several horses were thin, had severely overgrown hooves, and didn’t have access to water.

The horses were brought to Lollypop Farm for care. Elaine Bute, 69 of Carlton, pleaded to a one-year conditional discharge during which she can’t own horses. She also had to pay restitution to Lollypop Farm.

The sentencing comes over year after Lollypop Farm took the neglected horses into their care. Investigators were called to the property on July 26, 2022 after Orleans County Animal Control got reports of horses kept in poor conditions.

Lollypop Farm says the three horses had to be euthanized because of untreatable medical reasons including two as a result of the neglect. The rest of the horses were adopted and one horse is in foster care through the Compassionate Aid for Retired Equine (C.A.R.E.) program.