Woman accused in horse abuse case dies
Published: November 13, 2009
An Orange County woman accused this summer of cruelty to horses has died. Nancy S. Mackall, 55, died in an Arlington hospice Nov. 3, according to an obituary Nov. 6 in the Washington Post. She was buried Saturday in McLean.
Mackall was scheduled for trial in Orange County General District Court Nov. 20 to face 10 counts of animal cruelty and 20 counts of failure to properly dispose of animal corpses. The case arose Aug. 6 when a neighbor alerted county authorities to questionable conditions on Mackall’s Mine Run farm.
According to law enforcement officers, several emaciated and dead horses — some of them not buried — were found on the property. Ten other horses, described by authorities as being in fair condition, were also on the farm.
Under an agreement reached Aug. 21, Mackall surrendered custody of the healthy horses to Culpeper farmer and businessman Gardiner Mulford. Volunteers also assisted in caring for animals removed from the farm.
Although the state’s Web-based court information system shows the case as pending, Orange County Commonwealth’s Attorney Diana Wheeler said it will be dismissed next week.
Mackall at one time operated a retirement farm in which polo ponies were supposed to live out their days in peace and safety. However, friends and family members told the Star-Exponent and other media outlets this summer that Mackall had stepped back from that role in recent years in order to deal with health and family-related issues.
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If those animals were in the conditions I heard about death isn’t good enough for her. She deserved any pain and suffering God placed upon her. Don’t expect me to feel sorry for her.
It is my understanding that she an a substance abuse problem which led to liver disease. Likely the cause of her death.
Your right…she’s dead…we should move on, but, and it’s a big but, it still doesn’t excuse what she did. As I said before, she was actively recruiting for new horses a year ago. Still had her website up until she was caught. If she were that sick, why pay for advertisements in magazines, pay for a website, take in new horses, etc. So, from me, she won’t get any slack. What she did was unforgivable, dead or alive.
Like many others, I was appalled at the story and the mistreatment of those animals.
But, the lady is dead for petesake. Dying at a hospice implies, in my opinion, “terminally ill”. Maybe for quite awhile. Give her a break
Oh, Sandalwood. I hear the horses were named Jesus, Maria, Julio, Juan, .....does that change your opinion?
Apparently, Nancy S. Mackall had fallen and broke her leg on November 3. Minutes later she was shot.
Quote: “Mackall had stepped back from that role in recent years in order to deal with health and family-related issues.“
Bull hockey. I spoke to her over a year ago and she was still actively recruiting and advertising her “retirement foundation”. Two years ago, she already had horses in poor condition. One, Dandy, who was donated by Cissie Jones Snow (big polo name) was “retired” with Mackall because of a hock injury. Mackall turned around and sold him, with three others, to a fair in New York. According to the women who bought the horses from Mackall, he had no hair when he arrived and had a very serious injury and not from the trailer ride up. Mackall told the purchaser (who only wanted three horses) that if she didn’t take them all, she was going to have to put them down! They all arrived very thin and were not taken care of. So again, bull hockey! The woman was a hoarder, plain and simple. She does not deserve our pity or excuses.
I certainly hope that ALL, not just some, of the emaciated horses were “not buried”.
Quote: “Mackall had stepped back from that role in recent years in order to deal with health and family-related issues.“
That is no excuse for the condition I heard those animals were in. One horse left standing in a trailer for almost a month!!
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