A quaint 25-stall barnyard nestled just off a farmland road in Stouffville, Ont. is the grisly scene of alleged animal neglect. Fourteen horses and a pony were found, emaciated, living in squalid conditions, their hooves neglected, their bones visible through their skin.The sick animals were discovered by farm-owner Michael Cheung and his neighbours earlier this month.But a string of even more chilling discoveries began when a rotting horse carcass was located in an aluminium trailer on the property.Then, last Wednesday, two young women helping tend to the sick animals happened upon the gruesome sight of two dead horse corpses at the back of the paddocks under some trees, each at different stages of decomposition.Next, on Mother’s Day, another horrific discovery. A neighbour’s chihuahua-papillon mix, Jax, began digging in a large mound of dirt in paddock by the barn. Buried just a few inches below the surface were the bones of what Cheung and neighbours believe to be at least four more horses.“For animals that don’t deserve to be neglected or left to die … this is not humane. It’s just not right,” said Cheung. On Friday, the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA) charged three people with permitting an animal to be in distress, failing to provide adequate food and failing to provide care necessary for general welfare.The accused, David Lee Small, Victoria Small and Jason Leroy Small, will appear in Newmarket court on July 6. “There were a couple of horses there that are owned by other people and were being paid to be cared for,” said Jason Leroy Small in an interview with the Star. “I feel horrible about it. At the end of the day, we weren’t doing anything to try to harm these horses. At no point in time have I ever done anything in my life to try and harm an animal.” Small claims the “shallow graves” were there before his family arrived. “The two ...
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