Whitehorse Daily Star

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Jim Dillabough

Allegations of horse neglect investigated

The Yukon government’s animal protection officer has launched an investigation into allegations of neglect at a farm north of Whitehorse.

By Stephanie Waddell on August 22, 2014

The Yukon government’s animal protection officer has launched an investigation into allegations of neglect at a farm north of Whitehorse.

A series of disturbing photos posted on Facebook alleges horse neglect at Jim Dillabough’s property on the Mayo Road.

One shows a horse lying on its side in a field, covered with flies, apparently dead.

One taken from another angle shows its head tilted awkwardly against the wall of the enclosure.

Another photo shows a horse with what appears to be a deep, infected gash on its lip.

Others show a horse with an infection in its right eye socket, its right eye not visible.

Yet another photo shows a brown and white horse with bones jutting out of its back and flanks.

Animal protection officer Jay Lester said Wednesday he is investigating the allegations under the Animal Protection Act, but would provide no further details.

Whitehorse RCMP were made aware of the allegations on Monday.

“YTG Animal Protection is investigating the matter and we are providing assistance and support as they require,” Const. Christine Grant said via email on Thursday.

Reached by phone Wednesday morning, the 69-year-old Dillabough said he’d heard about the photos circulating online, but hadn’t seen them because he doesn’t have a computer.

Nor had he heard from the government regarding its investigation.

But he denied claims of any neglect.

When given a description of the photos, Dillabough explained each one.

The horse with the infected eye died after the infection spread to its other eye and then its brain, he said.

“I had that horse pumped up full of penicillin for quite a while, and he was over 20 years old.”

That horse died last winter – the animal depicted in the photos lying in the field – and Dillabough removed the carcass this past spring, as soon as he could, he said.

The skinny horse, he said, had worms. He’s since been dewormed and has gained weight.

And the horse with the infected gash on its lip isn’t one of his, he said.

Betty Irwin, a city councillor and manager of the Mae Bachur Animal Shelter, said Wednesday the shelter is aware of the photos, but won’t be getting involved.

“It isn’t that we wouldn’t like to get involved in the care of large animals but we just have no mandate to do so, and since it’s outside of city limits, of course, that’s another problem for us,” she said.

The matter is in the hands of the territory’s animal protection officer, Irwin pointed out.

Several concerned Whitehorse residents have been sharing the photos on Facebook and discussing how to help the horses.

Dillabough believes this is all a smear campaign against him because one of the women who’s been vocal about the alleged neglect owes him $6,600, he said.

He has boarded several of her horses over the years, and is refusing to return a mare and colt, still on his property, to her until she pays him the money she owes.

“She’s doing this because I won’t release that horse of hers,” he said.

“She’s not getting it until she’s paid.”

The Star has not been able to contact this woman.

She was out at the farm three weeks ago with a group of people and the RCMP, Dillabough said.

“They start telling me if I don’t give her back the horse, they could charge me. Like hell they can. You put your vehicle in the garage, you don’t pay the bill, you don’t get your vehicle back until that bill is paid.”

Dillabough has lived on his farm, at Mile 8 on the Mayo Road, for 49 years.

“I’ve got to go to all the way to Carmacks to find to somebody who’s lived on this (North Klondike) highway longer than me,” he said

He’s rented out the land in the past for gardening, campgrounds and cabins, equipment storage, horse, cat and dog boarding and trail rides.

Dillabough keeps 48 horses on the property.

Some are his, while others are boarded there. He also has 26 goats, a bull, some chickens and a llama.

He expressed frustration at the several run-ins he’s had with police and bylaw officers, dating back to the 1980s.

Dillabough is currently facing charges of assault and uttering threats from last year.

He said his horses got loose when he was away in Vancouver, and he went out to buy some oats for them when he returned home.

He came back to find a man from the pound trying to coax the horses across the highway with two buckets of oats.

“This is Thanksgiving Day, in the afternoon,” Dillabough said.

“There’s lots of traffic. He’s got no authority to try and take them away from us. I got out there and told him to get the hell out of there ... He said I threatened him and assaulted him, and all that.”

Dillabough maintains he had no physical contact with the man.

He is seeking an Outside judge to hear that case, because he’s concerned Yukon judges are biased against him.

In 2009, Dillabough was found guilty of threatening an local animal rights activist who wrote a letter to the editor regarding a story the Star ran about wolves attacking Dillabough’s livestock.

“In my opinion, Mr. Dillabaugh (sic) is responsible for allowing the animals in his care to be in harm’s way,” resident Mike Grieco wrote.

“There have been complaints about the animals in Mr. Dillabaugh’s care wandering loose. Who is responsible if these animals are hit by vehicles on the highway?”

Dillabough called Grieco to confront him about the letter and said: “Aren’t you afraid of what might happen to you because of your letters?” and “If you’re outside the fence, it’s f-----g open season on you, too.”

Dillabough admitted saying something along those lines, but said he was speaking generally and not threatening to actually harm Grieco.

The farmer was ordered to pay a $200 fine, do 60 hours of community service and be on probation for the next three years.

In 2007, Dillabough was charged and convicted under the Highways Act after his cattle got loose and wandered onto the Mayo Road several times.

He was fined $500, which was lowered to $100 after a Yukon Supreme Court appeal. His conviction, though, was upheld.

Comments (4)

Up 6 Down 4

farmer on Aug 26, 2014 at 5:13 pm

That's a lot of horses, a guy with 48 horses on that dry piece of scrub, needs to be able to feed them with an outside source of food. I think YG should just let those wild horse's be, they are always looking fat and sassy and happy, when I drive by them, even in the winter. They show all of us, their wild foundation, their will for freedom and their desire for self determination.

I think he loves horses and is trying his best, but perhaps his soft heart for horse's has caused him to over commit. I can see why he loves horses, the people he has had to deal with, would make me want to express my feelings in a forceful manner.

Lady, pay your bill, then this guy can buy some hay, the horses need it.

Up 12 Down 4

melba on Aug 23, 2014 at 3:19 pm

Regarding the horse that Jim says died of infection, I apologize for saying it received no veterinary care because Jim said he, 'had it pumped full of penicillin for quite a while'.

It is not clear for how long or at what point penicillin was administered or whether any care was given at the time of the original injury, whether he gave up on the antibiotics eventually, whether he ever consulted a vet, whether the horse died slowly on its own or whether Jim shot it. I think there is no question that this horse suffered. In the course of the investigation, I hope they ask for receipts and prescriptions for those antibiotics and make some effort to confirm what if any medical care was given to this horse.

Each animal, one at a time. Seventy-six large animals (48 horses, one bull and one lama, and 26 goats), plus 'some chickens'. Keep those numbers in mind and ask to look at every one of them in the course of this investigation. Maybe this will help Jim. He says everything is well and fine on his farm, and with an inspection of each animal coming out clean or reasonable, he can get the authorities off his back and prove to everyone that this whole thing is just a malicious attack by someone who owes him money.

I would think that Jim would embrace the opportunity to show off his satisfactory, humane animal care. Nobody is asking for luxury or Churchill Downs. Just decency, compassion, the money spent that needs to be spent to keep animals, and laws adhered to. So here's the challenge Jim, your chance to upbraid your detractors. Tick off every single one of those 76 animals plus chickens under a veterinarian's review, and put this all to rest.

Up 29 Down 4

melba on Aug 23, 2014 at 12:01 pm

Jim has an excuse and answer for everything. About the horse with the missing eye, with puss oozing out of the socket down its face: That's the dead horse in the picture from the next spring. The infection spread from one eye to the other and then to the horse's brain. He got the dead horse out of the paddock in the spring, as soon as he could.' What a horrid way to treat an animal! First, no veterinary care and how did the eye get knocked out in the first place. Two, if an animal dies in your yard in the winter, it is not any more difficult to drag it out of the paddock than it would be in the spring. In fact it is easier. This whole episode is disgusting even if Jim is telling the truth. He let a horse slowly die from a festering eye injury that spread throughout its head. Then he left the dead animal in a filthy, small fenced yard which the picture shows being shared by a living horse, lying in the feces and mud. This man should not own animals. If this constitutes abiding by animal welfare laws, the laws need to change.

Up 24 Down 4

po'd on Aug 23, 2014 at 11:53 am

The brown and white horse was awarded to Jim in an auction by the Agriculture Branch. It was one of a herd of wild horses that the government decided to round up for their own good and so they would not be near the highway. Several of them ended up at Jim Dillabough's farm despite his reputation spanning years, of animal neglect and abuse of people.

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