Demand Severe Charges for ramming loose horse with his patrol car

Target: York County Pennsylvania Disctrict Attorney,

December 21, 2021 turned out to be a tragic end for an unnamed horse near Oxford, PA. Just before midnight Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) from Troop J in Avondale responded to a call about a horse standing on the shoulder of Route 1, a four-lane divided highway. The horse reportedly had been struck by a motorist.

What happened next is both inexplicable and horrific; and one of the responding officers, Corporal Michael Perillo, has now been charged with two counts of aggravated cruelty to animals causing death, aggravated cruelty to animals by torture and cruelty to animals. He was arraigned at the Chester County Justice Center and bail was set at $50,000 unsecured.

A Tortured Death
The Chester County District Attorney, Deb Ryan, in a statement released on Facebook and via Instagram, said that “the horse that was loose on US-1 last December suffered a tortured death at the hands of Cpl. Michael Perillo. Inflicting such pain on an innocent animal is unthinkable and inexcusable. No one is above the law, and my office will hold the defendant accountable for his actions.” Just before summarizing the events that culminated in the horse’s death, the statement went on to affirm that every defendant is considered innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Perillo and another officer responded to a call about a horse standing on the shoulder of US Route 1 in Lower Oxford Twp. According to the report, the horse had been struck by a car and there was some damage to the vehicle, but no injuries to anyone. When the troopers arrived on the scene, the horse began walking north in the southbound lane of Route 1.

The troopers were apparently not prepared for the possibility of actually helping the horse get out of danger. “One trooper unsuccessfully tried to capture the horse using a makeshift rope from jumper cables,” according to the DA’s office.

The horse moved away again, this time onto the southbound on-ramp toward Route 10. Perillo drove behind the horse onto the ramp, he activated his emergency lights and tried to block the horse, which tried to go around the car. Perillo repositioned his car and the horse tried again to go around it. That’s when Perillo first used the car to hit the horse.

The horse turned around and went toward Route 1, “where (the other) trooper stood holding the makeshift rope in his right hand and his firearm in his left. The trooper fired in the animal’s direction five times, striking it at least once in the left rib cage.”

At this point the horse started running and Perillo followed. “The defendant followed the running horse and struck it four times in the legs with his vehicle, with the horse landing on the hood the fourth time. The defendant struck it a fifth time when the horse fell from the hood. When the horse tried to stand up, the defendant struck it a sixth time, driving his car on top of the animal. Because the horse was still breathing, one of the other troopers present euthanized it.”

This trooper should be charged to the fullest extent of the law for this brutal, intentional act.