Horse’s venereal disease prompts unusual lawsuit

Listen to this article

A lawsuit filed by the owners of a prized Oconomowoc stallion against a prominent Wisconsin equine clinic gives new meaning to the phrase horsing around.

Saddlebrook Barncams LLC claims Wisconsin Equine Clinic Inc. and Dr. Robert Magnus are liable for infecting 17-year-old Appaloosa stallion Zip Me Impressive with a rare venereal disease during extraction and preservation of semen. Saddlebrook, which started in 2000, claims the negligence led to lost earnings for the breeder.

The case is pending before Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Maxine White, who is scheduled to rule by April 26 on a defense motion to move the case to Waukesha County.

But Milwaukee litigator Jacques Condon, of Hale & Wagner SC, said the case could present a significant hurdle for the plaintiffs to prevail.

The Wisconsin Equine Activity Liability Act provides civil liability exemptions for certain equine activities, including assisting in the medical treatment of a horse.

“The plaintiffs have to show something beyond mere negligence,” said Condon, who has handled equine owner negligence cases. “As to whether this would be considered a medical treatment, I think it would be, because they were looking to a vet to inseminate or extract semen from Zippy.”

Saddlebrook’s attorney, Joe Newbold, of O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong & Laing SC, Milwaukee, said the equine liability law doesn’t apply.

The statute, Newbold said, only provides immunity against a claim brought by someone who is participating in an equine activity, like riding a horse, and is then injured or killed during the activity.

“Based upon the clear words in the statute,” he said, “the statute does not provide the defendants immunity from their negligence in this case.”

Magnus and Wisconsin Equine’s defense attorney, Paul Pytlik, of Hills Legal Group Ltd., Waukesha, did not immediately return repeated calls seeking comment.

The horse has since recovered from the disease through treatment and is able to breed again. But Saddlebrook owner Bill Thiel said he wants to know how his prized stallion came to be infected in the first place because it never had sexual contact with a mare during more than 10 years as a stud.

According to the Sept. 15 complaint, on or about March 27, 2009, Saddlebrook learned that “Zippy” had contracted Contagious Equine Metritis, a sexually transmitted disease, after returning from the clinic.

“We’ve never done live cover, putting the stallion with a mare, with him,” Thiel said, “because it can change a horse’s attitude. He’s a show horse, so we wanted to keep his mind on showing, not girls.”

Thiel declined to say how much he paid for the horse when it was a year old or how much revenue it generates annually. But, he said, Zippy’s semen sells for $1,200 per dose.

Contraction of CEM led to a three-and-a-half-month quarantine for Zippy during peak breeding season and resulted in the destruction of 179 doses of the horse’s then-frozen semen, according to the complaint.

“The only way he could have contracted Contagious Equine Metritis is by the people at the Wisconsin Equine Clinic falling below the standard of care and failing to keep properly sanitized breeding equipment,” Newbold said. “Their negligence seems to be straightforward.”

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for, among other things, lost profits on semen sales, lost profits on foals sired by Zippy, semen storage fees and loss of reputation in the Appaloosa breeding community.

But according to the defense brief filed in October, Magnus and the clinic denied any liability on the grounds that Saddlebrook bears some responsibility for negligence.

According to the defense brief, Saddlebrook’s claims are preempted by federal law and should be dismissed, with prejudice, by the court.

Condon said state equine law recognizes that horse ownership is an inherently dangerous activity, and interpretation of the statute could determine which side is at fault.

“The owner was certainly obligated to take certain precautions,” he said. “But at the same time, Wisconsin Equine knew it was being entrusted with the horse from Saddlebrook.”

Thiel declined to comment on the specifics of the case but acknowledged that breeding revenue has taken a hit because Zippy is the company’s primary stud.

Thiel said he had been a loyal client of Wisconsin Equine and that the clinic is well-regarded throughout the breeding industry. But, he said, he hasn’t been back since the incident and is concerned about the long-term effect on his business.

“It still troubles me,” Thiel said. “I still worry about it, whereas I never did before.”