The “Outerbridge cowboy” who caused a ruckus on the city bridge earlier this week was arrested Thursday for abusing his horses, cops said.
“It was an ambush!” Tod “Doc” Mishler told The Post, hours after being corralled by the NYPD and slapped with animal cruelty charges.
“They’re trying to steal my horses,” he fumed. “In Montana, they hang horse thieves!”
The 80-year-old currently faces charges of torturing, injuring and not feeding animals after the ASPCA evaluated the health status of his two steeds and found that they had numerous injuries and were extremely malnourished.
“It’s not good,” a police source said. “They have multiple injuries, open sores, [they’re] underweight, dehydrated, and one had lameness due to an obstruction in his hoof.”
Mishler — a grizzled elderly man who sports a red bandana, spurs and a cowboy hat — made headlines Monday when he saddled up the two horses and rode over the Outerbridge Crossing, bringing traffic to a halt at 11 a.m.
Rather than arrest him, cops allowed the vagabond to ride off into the sunset, slapping him with a pair of criminal court summonses instead.
A day later, though, the nags were seized by law enforcement and sent to Ocean Breeze Indoor Horse Riding Arena, where they were checked out by veterinarians.
Mishler had returned to the Staten Island facility Thursday morning to pick up the animals, dubbed Charity 2 and Hope 2, when cops arrested him around 10:15 a.m., according to staff at the track.
“They told me to come with a trailer to get my horses this morning, at 10 a.m.,” Mishler said. “We were there at 9 a.m., [but] they made me wait … then arrested me.”
After being taken into custody, Mishler was brought to the 120th Precinct in St. George and questioned by authorities.
“They arrested me and said, ‘Either sign over your horses or we’re sending you to jail,'” Mishler explained. “I said, ‘Well, you better send me to jail, then.’ They said, ‘Well, we’re gonna send you to jail AND take your horses.’ So I signed their paper and said, ‘We’ll fight it out in court.'”
According to police, Mishler was given a desk appearance ticket and sent on his way.
“I have a court appointment tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. in Staten Island,” he said. “I will plead not guilty. I’ve been lied to and I’ve been hoodwinked by the officials here in Staten Island. I tried to trust them and believe in the system and under duress, they made me sign away my horses.”
When asked about the abuse claims, Mishler went on the defensive.
“It’s a bulls— thing [to say],” he seethed. “They wouldn’t let me anywhere near my horses, but they showed me two pictures. One of Hope 2, with a halter burn that was superficial, and one of Charity 2, my pack horse, and she has a sore where a buckle was rubbing.”
Despite their injuries, sources said the animals would make a full recovery.
“It looks like they’re going to be OK,” a source said. “They’ll be nursed back to health.”
Officials from the ASPCA said they would be caring for the horses for the time being.
On Monday, Mishler told The Post he had been riding across the country on horseback to raise awareness for Church Communities International, an interdependent religious group commonly known as the Bruderhof Community.
Along his journey, Mishler handed out fliers which said he was affiliated with the group’s Maple Ridge Community in Ulster Park.
But animal advocates and church members both claimed that this is not the case.
“He was not a member of our organization,” explained Ian Winter, a pastor and community leader at Maple Ridge. “We are not trying to get him out of jail and no, we are not helping him. We are doing nothing for him. He doesn’t have anything to do with us. He stayed with us for a little while in 2011. We provided him with room and board until he left to go to rehab for a broken hip, which he suffered after falling off his horse. Bless his soul for doing that at his age, but he shouldn’t be using our name.”
In a Facebook group titled “Stop Doc Mishler,” animal advocates described how the wannabe westerner had been using his quest to abuse horses for years.
“He claims to be raising awareness for hungry children. But in fact he is neglecting the horses that are forced to go all over the US with [him],” said Christine Whale, the group’s creator. “He has been on this mission since 2002, but does not carry feed or water for these horses. We need to have him stopped and he does not need to be able to own horses any longer … he needs a bicycle.”
Winter told The Post that after breaking his hip in 2011, Mishler decided it was time to hang up his saddle and settle down.
“He accepted it at the time,” Winter said. “He had ridden his horse a bit too spirited and fallen off, breaking his hip, so I spoke to him and said, ‘Listen, Doc. Riding is over. At your age, you gotta accept reality.’ And he was fine with this. We gave the horses away to a different farm and he agreed to stop riding.”
But like any true cowboy, Mishler’s love affair with the Old West would prove too strong to buck off.
“The wanderlust came back, the thirst for adventure hit him and he was back at it again,” Winter said. “He left and didn’t want to have anything to do with us.”
Over the next few years, Winter said he spoke with Mishler several times — often telling him to come back and get his act together, to no avail.
“He is just doing what he loves to do,” Winter said. “He was practically born in a saddle, and at 80, it’s amazing that he’s still riding. Who at 80 can ride a horse, let alone cross country? We bear no ill will towards him, really. We wish him the best in the world. But I do think he needs a reality check. Even in Westerns, the cowboy goes home to the ranch to settle down. Why not him?”