On June 22, 2015 Carole Scarito, owner of Amity Springs Sporthorses, Douglassville, PA was found guilty on 6 counts of Cruelty to Animals (18 Pa.C.S.A.§ 5511 §§ C1) by the Hon. Victor M. Frederick, IV. She no longer owns any horses.
4 charges relate to the four dead emaciated horses found in stalls and a pit. Forensic testing of the carcasses/ bone marrow revealed that they had been starved. The horses were: Vanity B(Dutch mare), Virio ( RPSI mare), unknown 2yr colt, and a 3-4 yr old thoroughbred colt JC- Real Pal. ( Interestingly, Carol had told numerous people that this horse was at the track training when in fact he was locked in a stall dying).
Another charge relates to an arabian mare who was found with a body score of "1." This mare was relinquished and since successfully rehabilitated.
A final charge related to the overall condition of the property- which I will not go into at this time.
There were also boarded horses at the property who were scored at 1-2 who were promptly removed by their owner upon discovery of the situation.
Carol's stallion and his offspring- who were housed together in a paddock, were in decent weight.
It is believed that many other horses died here over the past year.
Just before her May trial date, Carol sent a load of horses (mainly ponies, several in foal) to The New Holland Sales Stable Auction and Cranbury.
This is a human and equine tragedy. Carol, an older breeder, once bred nice horses and by all outward appearances seemed to be OK. Apparently no one was paying much attention to the decline over the past years or they simply did not want to get involved. I have heard from dealers, haulers and others who had been on the property and noticed abnormalities-.. but no one ever said anything. Maybe if someone would have stepped forward sooner this could have been avoided and horses spared. Then again, Carol was offered help in many forms but repeatedly rejected the offers.
Thank you to all who had the courage to step up to the plate!!
Last edited by Pa Rural; Jun. 23, 2015 at 08:49 AM. Reason: updated
She was a pro at covering up with lots of stories. Thing is…she was very believable and likable. Nothing ever went off on my crazy horse person radar when I spoke with her over the phone… actually, she was quite knowledgeable. But once you stepped foot on the farm, you knew something wasn’t right. She kept us from the stalls in the back of the barn…odd we thought she was hiding something. Anyhow…we now have significant proof (pictures) of the horrors happening in that barn. She fooled so many. She enjoyed that part. Most would never suspect her to be so cruel. She had plenty of opportunities to sell or rehome many. She wanted over 7k for unbroke, unregistered babies. Even the stallion wasn’t halter broke. The horses weren’t wormed or inoculated…ever. Hooves were never tended to.