Animal groups Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and Columbia-Greene Human Society (CGHS) with the cooperation of the New York State Police raided the Center Brooke Farm at the upstate area on Wednesday to save nearly 200 racing horses that are severely starving and infested with lice.

Farm owner  was arrested on Friday and was charged with 22 counts of animal cruelty with the failure to provide proper sustenance. A $1,000 fine or a year in jail each count will be imposed on him if found guilty. He’s expected to make another court appearance next week.

The animal groups are now making a huge effort to feed the 177 horses saved and are asking assistance from everyone who can adopt or send money to aid their efforts. As of now, the horses are being de-wormed and de-lived by CGHS.

After Paragallo’s arrest, the New York State Racing and Wagering Board through its chairman John Sabini released a statement saying the board had terminated the breeder’s privilege to be involved with horse racing in the state.

The Maryland Racing Commission is right on the hooves of Texas. Maryland is the latest states to issue a ban on the use of Steroids on racing horses.  Like Texas, Maryland is banning the use of anabolic steroids on all racing horse. Vets and racehorse owners found to violate the ban will be dealt with accordingly. Veterinarians are still allowed to administer the small amounts of steroids, but only if there is a valid veterinary reason.

Steroid use in horse racing was brought to light after Big Brown’s trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. admitted to having used steroids to improve the horse’s performance. Big Brown is most known for his Preakness Stakes and Kentucky Derby wins.

Michael Hopkins who serves as executive director for the Maryland Racing commission had this to say:

“These particular compounds have gone unchecked for a number of years,” supplied Hopkins. “The control of them is very good for the industry.”

January 2009 marks the official ban implementation. The remaining months of 2008 are given to horse racers and owners to allow their horses to work the steroids off their system. Steroids not only result in an unfair race, it is also potentially harmful to the health of the horses.