Law enforcement: Mountaineer 'cleared' in horse disposal at landfill

Mountaineer Park complied with its policies and local laws regarding disposal of an animal carcass in a case revolving around the recent distribution of photographs of a horse carcass lying in the open air at a West Virginia landfill near the track, according to a law-enforcement official investigating the case.

Sgt. Doug Wade of the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday that the investigation so far “has cleared Mountaineer” of any violations regarding the horse. He said that Mountaineer has a policy to dispose of horse carcasses at a designated area of the landfill, and that it is still unclear how the horse ended up in an area of the landfill that was not reserved for the disposal of animal remains.

The photographs of the horse, Bridget Moloney, were distributed last week by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an organization that is opposed to racing and any use of animals for commercial purposes. PETA said that the photographs were provided by an unidentified whistleblower and taken “on or around” Sept. 27, two days after Bridget Moloney suffered a catastrophic injury and was euthanized by a track veterinarian.

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Wade said that the landfill is not located in Hancock County and out of his jurisdiction, but he said that the track had supplied paperwork showing the vet treatments that were provided to the horse and providing a date of the drop-off at the landfill, which was Sept. 26. He said that under the policies, Mountaineer would notify the landfill when it was delivering a horse carcass and that the landfill would then prepare a plot at its animal-disposal area for burial.

Wade said that the driver that dropped the horse off at the landfill was employed by Mountaineer and that track officials had confirmed that the truck that is shown in the photo was a truck used by the track. But he said he did not know why the truck driver was told to deposit the horse in a location that was not used for animal disposal.

“It seems someone at the landfill that day directed the driver to that spot, and the driver did what he was told,” Wade said.

He said aspects of the case remain open to investigation but should be completed by the end of this week.