Humane Societies get Restitution

Details: Created on Monday, 13 April 2015 18:14; Written by Cassandra Bernier

LYNDON- Judge Robert Bent has ordered Bruce Bona to pay $22,302 in restitution to three different humane societies for temporary housing 21 horses after police seized them from the Bona Ranch back in March 2014.

The Caledonia County Sheriff's Department found 21 horses when they arrived on scene in March 2014, not including the three dead ones. Bona was found on 17 accounts of animal cruelty, and now the organizations that cared for the neglected animals want to be repaid.

Hooved Animal Sanctuary, in Chelsea, was awarded $3,028 in restitution for caring for two of Bona's horses. Horses Home Again, based out of Stowe, was awarded $5,080 after taking in six of the horses. Both of these amounts are what the two organizations asked for in restitution.

Elizabeth H. Humane Society was not so lucky. The organization asked for $29,358 in restitution but the amount they received was cut in half. The reduced amount that the humane society was awarded was only $14,194. They took in the remaining 12 horses.

The initial restitution claims totaled more than $50,000 but the Horses Home Again organization cut their claims from a little over sixteen thousand to the five thousand they were awarded.

The money was used for food, boarding, additional fencing and vet services, among other things.