Horrendous Case of 'Alleged' Abuse in VA -

[The_Anonymous_Foxhun]

Here is an article with a few more details from today’s hearing, including a timeline of dates of complaints about the condition of the animals on the property prior to Orange County law enforcement executing their first search warrant:

http://m.dailyprogress.com/news/local/seizure-hearing-nov-in-animal-cruelty-case/article_079bacd6-7dd4-11e5-97f0-0f05ce35b31d.html?mode=jqm

This article does not make clear whether or how Orange County authorities responded to the October 3 complaint, the earliest date referenced here; nor is it clear whether that was the first complaint ever received by their office about Peaceable Farm.

Note that she purchased a horse a couple weeks before the search warrant was executed – so she can’t really claim that she was “having financial trouble” and “trying to find other homes for the horses.”

That poor Lippizan stallion died between the October 3 complaint and the arrival of deputies on the property three weeks later. [insert your comment here]

I have it on good authority that at least one veterinarian had given photographic evidence to animal control months ago, and nothing was done.

But we’ll just have to see what the full picture is.

Someone commented that the IRS won’t do much. They will rescind the nonprofit status, not that it matters anymore. The Board of Directors, in addition to responding to the seizure matter (for which they may simply send their lawyers to appear in court, not themselves), will probably be invited to an enthusiastic question and answer session with the Attorneys General of Maryland and/or Virginia.

I believe a large portion of the past donations was a matching gift from a grant-making entity; I’ll go back to find that.

[Cartier]

Thank you for the update.

To clarify my comment, “the IRS won’t do much.” I am not saying that there is “not much they could do” rather, in my experience , they simply don’t do much. Might be from lack of staff, or funding, but they are slow to act if at all. Not sure what it is that prompts them to act, whether it’s a dollar amount threshold, or the luck of the draw that this lands on the desk of an agent who gives a rats ass… I just would not put any faith in the IRS handling this, anymore than I’d trust the military to act with honor investigating the conduct of the retired Rear Admiral on that Board. All I have ever seen of the military’s “honor” is a colossal CYA.

[The_Anonymous_Foxhun]

Well, he’s retired, so the military won’t be involved at all.

My wager is that the IRS (while I wholeheartedly agree with your general assessment of their workings) will pay attention, and perhaps take a look at some other boards that these fellows sit on, as well. The mission statement of the 501©(3) that Mr. Boisture is presently President of is, “To foster awareness of the power of love and forgiveness in the emerging global community.”

…which is super noble and everything, but does sound a little bit like, oh, I don’t know…the Human Fund? Vandelay Industries? #yougetmypoint

[Laurierace]

Here is an easy way to help the survivors.
http://www.specialhorses.org/fundraisers/hay-bank-fundraiser-for-orange-county-va-rescues/

[Cartier]

[QUOTE=The Anonymous Foxhunter;8379000]
Well, he’s retired, so the military won’t be involved at all.

My wager is that the IRS (while I wholeheartedly agree with your general assessment of their workings) will pay attention, and perhaps take a look at some other boards that these fellows sit on, as well. The mission statement of the 501©(3) that Mr. Boisture is presently President of is, “To foster awareness of the power of love and forgiveness in the emerging global community.”

…which is super noble and everything, but does sound a little bit like, oh, I don’t know…the Human Fund? Vandelay Industries? #yougetmypoint[/QUOTE]
Retired or not, his conduct reflects on the military. He can be called back to active duty at ANY time and be court marshaled and loose his retirement benefits, which includes “Executive Care” medical benefits. Without “Executive Care” he’d have to use the same medical benefits that enlisted and lower ranking officers use. That might be the only way to ground the pig in reality. Think about this, old Ashton Carter is running around all over the place talking about “military honor.” To avoid sounding like an out of touch hypocritical bag of gas Defense Sec Carter might want to make a call to this retired Rear Admiral and tell him to address this matter immediately because it makes the military look bad. In fact, it sort of looks like a high ranking military officer has exploited his rank for profit.

Again, about what the IRS will do, who do you think you contact at the IRS to get any attention about this? Or about any issue related to Tax Fraud and or Tax evasion? Do you think they have a staffed 800 number? I don’t think so. I think you get directed to website with a form, that you print, fill out and mail in, and then never hear from the IRS at all.

In fact, I think the days of passing things off to some group or government agency are over, it’s just that none of us noticed they’ve all disappeared or lost funding until something like this comes up.

That is why I think that people on this thread can accomplish more than any agency or official. And, we should all think about being more actively involved in politics. There are no groups that will address issues intelligently and promlagate sound wise laws. We have to do it for ourselves. We know the issues, understand the context and have the talent right here among the folks on this thread to accomplish great things. Susan has more talent and ability in her little finger than any dozen politicians I know. And even Chris Hutchinson can motivate a grass root effort like nobody else. Ilona hasn’t posted here, but she has more skill, education, experience, wisdom and common decency than most anyone I know. There is a depth of talent and ability here. We have a stake in this. And our contributions can make it better in the future.

[Cartier]

The issues:

1. The conduct of this woman
2. The conduct of her Board
3. The conduct of AC and others, why they did not act sooner
4. Why are there so many horses in rescue?
5. Is there a way to provide good, humane, end of life choices, so that these horses don’t end up suffering

[LookmaNohands]

How can “horse” people be so cruel to horses? That is what I have been asking myself all week. Not only this case, but walking horses, quarter horse western “pleasure” horses, that reining horse that died, BLM horses rounded up and sent to slaughter, ML’s horse with blood in its mouth and the drug culture at hunter shows.

And just to top it off the scum bags who slaughtered a show jumper.

People act as if they have no morals or compassion at all.

Either we don’t have the laws or no one wants to enforce them.

People are absolutely sick.

[PeteyPie]

[QUOTE=LookmaNohands;8380122]
How can “horse” people be so cruel to horses? That is what I have been asking myself all week. Not only this case, but walking horses, quarter horse western “pleasure” horses, that reining horse that died, BLM horses rounded up and sent to slaughter, ML’s horse with blood in its mouth and the drug culture at hunter shows.

And just to top it off the scum bags who slaughtered a show jumper.

People act as if they have no morals or compassion at all.

Either we don’t have the laws or no one wants to enforce them.

People are absolutely sick.[/QUOTE]

It is depressing and upsetting.

[sid]

[QUOTE=LookmaNohands;8380122]
How can “horse” people be so cruel to horses? That is what I have been asking myself all week. Not only this case, but walking horses, quarter horse western “pleasure” horses, that reining horse that died, BLM horses rounded up and sent to slaughter, ML’s horse with blood in its mouth and the drug culture at hunter shows.

And just to top it off the scum bags who slaughtered a show jumper.

People act as if they have no morals or compassion at all.

Either we don’t have the laws or no one wants to enforce them.

People are absolutely sick.[/QUOTE]

Because many “horse people” are not really “horse people” in the sense that most of us do who post on this wonderful forum.

Just because a person has a horse, does not mean they are “horse person” in the day to day, real sense and care about the responsibility of owning these big and often expensive creatures.

[PeteyPie]

[QUOTE=Cartier;8379454]
The issues:

1. The conduct of this woman
2. The conduct of her Board
3. The conduct of AC and others, why they did not act sooner
4. Why are there so many horses in rescue?
5. Is there a way to provide good, humane, end of life choices, so that these horses don’t end up suffering[/QUOTE]

As to your issue number 5, there are plenty of ways to provide good, humane, end life choices, and this farm should have been one of them. The awful management of this organization is a slap in the face to the many non-profits which do a good job. In addition, there are many for-profit retirement barns which take great care of horses, some of which are run by contributors to this forum. At the end of the horse’s life, there are barn managers and vets with common sense who will advise an owner when it is time for the horse to be humanely euthanized.

The issues you did not add are those which no one has really touched on here and for which I will probably get criticized for mentioning:

6. The conduct and ethics of well-to-do owners who dump their old horses on a non-profit. Even if the owner donates enough to cover the cost of care, does that really serve the purpose of a sanctuary? Which leads to…

7. The tax implications of using a sanctuary for your retiree so you can get a write-off for your personal horse.

8. The conduct of owners who do not responsibly monitor their retiree, no matter where it is living, fail to carefully inspect the new home and then fail to physically go to the farm on a regular basis and check up on the horse either in person or through an impartial third party.

[Cartier]

Absolutely agree with you… I may have mentioned a few of your points somewhere in this thread, I know I’ve been thinking about this issue, and in a more general sense, about the topic itself, for about a year now. I hope this thread is a wake up call for people.

[The_Anonymous_Foxhun]

Many good points, Cartier.

@Cartier;8379399

Again, about what the IRS will do, who do you think you contact at the IRS to get any attention about this?

The Sheriff stated at the press conference that his office had contacted the IRS “to assist with the income-related investigation,” so let’s be hopeful that these losers get hit from every possible side.

Did I just root for the IRS? Life is weird.

[FalseImpression]

Which one was it SecondChance4horses that did get their non profit status revoked from the IRS investigation?

I really hope that this will serve as an example… you want to be on a board of directors? you are liable… this is not a small rescue with small moms as volunteers and directors… these are people who obviously saw it to THEIR advantage to be associated with the “sanctuary”… they probably have never been near a horse!

[Cartier]

[QUOTE=The Anonymous Foxhunter;8380315]
Many good points, Cartier.

The Sheriff stated at the press conference that his office had contacted the IRS “to assist with the income-related investigation,” …[/QUOTE]

I read that, but here’s what is true as far as I know: there is no special IRS contact person for Sheriffs. The IRS is a federal agency that follows protocol, and protocol is that you go to a website, fill out a form, and mail it in. Doesn’t matter if you are a Congressman, tinker or spy, it’s the same process. There is no office at IRS taking calls from sheriffs. A sheriff does not have the power to enforce IRS law. I can see that the sheriff’s office might have called the IRS customer service number, and possibly got some general information about tax law, but beyond that I don’t think they did anything, in large part because there is nothing they can do. And I don’t think the IRS has the funding to chase down leads. I think they only act based on the form, and it may be Form 3949A. This is what I was told by Obama’s office, trickled down through our U.S. senator.

I don’t think people realize we are living in the “do nothing” generation. Our politicians do nothing, while collecting huge salaries and even bigger health/ retirement packages. There are no “investigative journalists” anymore. No reporter has any in depth knowledge of anything, they are hired because they look good on camera. Reporters read the news, but have no clue what they are reading. A GOOGLE search passes for research, knowledge and experience. If you think there is some group or agency advocating effectively for your interests, you are wrong. Groups like NOW are simply about generating donations. Or the group you remember as being good lost funding years ago, or ran out of steam, or aged out. For whatever reason they are not there anymore, or they morphed into a clearing house for insurance companies and other big business and have sold your phone number and email address to everyone. Our media is obsessed with important matters, like the size of Kim Kardashian’s butt, or Kylie’s lips. We obsess about non-issues and follow political leaders who have no morals, values, common sense or substantive knowledge of anything, and are only in office because some business group funded their campaign, which misled the public and swept them into office. They are beholding to big business, not to you or I. Try to even get your Congressional representative on the phone. We can’t; Duke Energy can. Yet they suppossedly work for us. You will be directed to a form on a website, which will send your concerns into the ether.

Society is screwed, no one has our interests in mind anymore, and if we want to see change, we have to work for it ourself, while we still have the option to do so.

[BeeHoney]

I have been following this thread with sadness. This is not the first non-profit “horse rescue” that has accepted donations and used them for personal gain while neglecting the horses involved. It truly is crazy that so many “horse rescues” are actually horse abusers. It is also sad to me to see the huge chunk of change that could have made such a huge difference to an actual, reputable rescue/s but instead was wasted on goodness knows what.

I do hope that the board members are held accountable to some degree, there’s no excuse for being a party to animal abuse on such a large scale. I can’t even picture what 100 starving horses looks like.

The damage is not just the suffering of these 100 horses, but the good rescues out there that 1) have to bear the burden of helping these horses but also 2) bear the suspicion of the general horse loving public who at this point have heard about one shady rescue too many.

Sadly, people do need to be very careful about which organizations they will donate money to. It’s really easy to post a picture of a horse on a website or social media and ask for money. Just today a horse dealer (a dealer, not a non-profit) with a questionable reputation on this board posted on Facebook a picture of a pretty horse who “needs surgery” and posted a gofundme link.

[bathsheba8542]

First, the BoD almost certainly has power to fire the President if she is not acting appropriately. That’s part of their ‘job’ description. Their failure to monitor her behavior must be a big liability for them jointly and individually. And, based on the way the place was run, I doubt they have D&O insurance. Bad news for them.

Also, she no doubt was taking the charitable donations and then funneling all her expenses through the nonprofit. So she doesn’t need a taxable salary - the nonprofit pays for everything, and she collaterally benefits because she has no expenses and no income. And in this way, avoids state tax, federal tax, and social security tax. I would have to imagine/hope the IRS won’t tolerate such egregious behavior, especially in a high-profile (now) case. I am no fan of the IRS, yet I cannot help but rejoice to see them go after cheats and frauds.

[Mozart]

[QUOTE=LookmaNohands;8380122]
How can “horse” people be so cruel to horses? That is what I have been asking myself all week. Not only this case, but walking horses, quarter horse western “pleasure” horses, that reining horse that died, BLM horses rounded up and sent to slaughter, ML’s horse with blood in its mouth and the drug culture at hunter shows.

And just to top it off the scum bags who slaughtered a show jumper.

People act as if they have no morals or compassion at all.

Either we don’t have the laws or no one wants to enforce them.

People are absolutely sick.[/QUOTE]
It has been tough to take lately hasn’t it.

[sid]

[QUOTE=bathsheba8542;8381215]
First, the BoD almost certainly has power to fire the President if she is not acting appropriately. That’s part of their ‘job’ description. Their failure to monitor her behavior must be a big liability for them severally and individually. And, based on the way the place was run, I doubt they have D&O insurance. Bad news for them.

Also, she no doubt was taking the charitable donations and then funneling all her expenses through the nonprofit. So she doesn’t need a taxable salary - the nonprofit pays for everything, and she collaterally benefits because she has no expenses and no income. And in this way, avoids state tax, federal tax, and social security tax. I would have to imagine/hope the IRS won’t tolerate such egregious behavior, especially in a high-profile (now) case. I am no fan of the IRS, yet I cannot help but rejoice to see them go after cheats and frauds.[/QUOTE]

Ditto.

[sid]

[QUOTE=Mozart;8381255]
It has been tough to take lately hasn’t it.[/QUOTE]

Yes, especially now seeing on RateMyHorsePro the head of another supposed n/p rescue in Montana has been convicted for the same horrible abuse.

Moral of the story…horse owners need to step up and do due diligence. No governmental “authority” is going to do that for us.

It appears many of these sham “rescues” found a way to make money for themselves at the death and suffering of many horses and animals.

That said, it is critical not to let these horribly rotten apples taint the really, really good ones out there who are doing the right thing by these horses…most of whom, to be blunt, are “throwaways” by their owners. Maybe they “think” they’re doing the right thing to send them to a retirement or rescue place – and many for good reason that we cannot possibly know.

But everyone is living in “la-la” land not to check them out thoroughly and recheck on them constantly. As I said the n/p that may have started out and been stellar may have been passed of when the founder got old or sick or something.

Sorry, I ramble. My best hope is that the increasing and public knowledge of this “dark side” will help shine a bright light on the problem. One cannot legislate “behavior”…so to those who send their horses off, just never turn a blind eye for years after you’ve sent them off to a “rescue” or retirement facility.

Better yet, don’t buy or certainly breed more horses than you can afford for life of care. Think, personally, about the individual and your own purse and future purse. That would solve a lot of this problem.

Granted, things can change in a heartbeat for a person or family, financially through no fault of their own. But interestingly, those people in my experience agonize about their situation…and especially for their animals. We all understand that.

But they seem to be in the minority these days, it seems. This has been going on for decades with horses. We just didn’t know as much about it pre-internet. Glad we do now.

[BeeHoney]

[QUOTE=sid;8381277]
Yes, especially now seeing on RateMyHorsePro the head of another supposed n/p rescue in Montana has been convicted for the same horrible abuse.

Moral of the story…horse owners need to step up and do due diligence. No governmental “authority” is going to do that for us.

It appears many of these sham “rescues” found a way to make money for themselves at the death and suffering of many horses and animals.

But everyone is living in “la-la” land not to check them out thoroughly and recheck on them constantly. As I said the n/p that may have started out and been stellar may have been passed of when the founder got old or sick or something.

…

This has been going on for decades with horses. We just didn’t know as much about it pre-internet. Glad we do now.[/QUOTE]

Yes, definitely agreed that people MUST do their due diligence before donating money to any organization.

The internet means that we all know about this recent case, but the internet also is a powerful tool to deceive. The horse dealer I alluded to in my previous post has a lovely Facebook page, filled with photographs of attractive horses. There’s a lot of self promotional material discussing all their good deeds. I’m sure that negative comments are quickly removed, as Facebook allows page owners to do.

However, if you search them online, there is a history of bankruptcy, lawsuits, failure to pay landlords, and claims of neglected/poorly cared for horses, and a newspaper article documenting that a horse in their care died of starvation while others suffered malnutrition. If you read their own website, they clearly state that they do not allow visitors on their premises at any time, even if you are purchasing a horse you are not allowed onto the property to inspect it. If that isn’t a red flag I don’t know what is. Yet, I checked out their gofundme page, and people are donating. This isn’t even a legit 501©(3), this is a horse dealer with a documented history of abuse/neglect.

Makes me crazy, especially in light of the current situation in VA where legitimate rescues need all the funds they can get to take care of the huge number of horses in need.