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by Kelsey Pape
For any animal lover, there is nothing more heart breaking than scrolling through various news feeds and seeing images of neglected and abused animals that come along with the heart breaking stories that lead to their demise. |
It’s hard to understand how anyone can bring themselves to beat an innocent animal without then wanting to launch themselves’ off a cliff for being such a dreadful excuse for a human being. However, what's worse is the cases where animals are neglected by their owners who watch them die a slow, painful death and do nothing about it. Sadly, one of these cases was recently discovered on a very large scale on a farm in orange county.
On October 26th, 2015 Police arrested the owner of Peaceable Farm, Anne Shumate Williams for 27 counts of animal cruelty. There were well over a hundred animals on the farm, and about three quarters of them were surrendered, but there may very well be many other suffering animals in need of care and medical attention, but the police can only intervene when the animal is near death, and often it is too late by then. In this case, six horses and donkeys and were already dead when police arrived, and nine of the recovered horses had to be euthanized.
Sadly, one the horses that had to be euthanized due to being so severely starved was formerly rescued by local, Carrie Reid. Reid took in the horse, Matty, when she was found emaciated at age 19. She got the horse back in good shape, but was unable to care for her permanently, so Matty was taken in at Peaceable Farm. Reid was heartbroken to discover that this poor horse had to go through the pain of starvation twice in her life. She has been a major advocate for the case against Williams.
On October 26th, 2015 Police arrested the owner of Peaceable Farm, Anne Shumate Williams for 27 counts of animal cruelty. There were well over a hundred animals on the farm, and about three quarters of them were surrendered, but there may very well be many other suffering animals in need of care and medical attention, but the police can only intervene when the animal is near death, and often it is too late by then. In this case, six horses and donkeys and were already dead when police arrived, and nine of the recovered horses had to be euthanized.
Sadly, one the horses that had to be euthanized due to being so severely starved was formerly rescued by local, Carrie Reid. Reid took in the horse, Matty, when she was found emaciated at age 19. She got the horse back in good shape, but was unable to care for her permanently, so Matty was taken in at Peaceable Farm. Reid was heartbroken to discover that this poor horse had to go through the pain of starvation twice in her life. She has been a major advocate for the case against Williams.
Williams was taken to Central Virginia Regional jail without bond. This was uplifting news to Reid and the other disgusted animal rights supporters in the area. However, William’s lawyer stated that he felt this was, “completely off the wall, not called for”. He claims that, “They’re demonizing a very decent person”. His opinion is that because she lost her means to fund the farm and became overwhelmed she should be given more leeway. While the farm operated as a non profit and was in fact underfunded, it does not appear that Williams made any efforts to get more funding or find alternative rescues for the animals she couldn’t afford to care for. Considering the fact given that dead animals were found left to rot on the property, it’s clear that Williams was paying very little attention to the animals on Peaceable Farm.
There is no official word yet on what the outcome will be for Williams, but it is expected that she will be facing more charges. No comments from Williams have yet to be released. Animal rights supporters everywhere can only hope that the repercussions will be severe to set an example for others and to ensure that Williams never hurts or neglects another animal again.
There is no official word yet on what the outcome will be for Williams, but it is expected that she will be facing more charges. No comments from Williams have yet to be released. Animal rights supporters everywhere can only hope that the repercussions will be severe to set an example for others and to ensure that Williams never hurts or neglects another animal again.
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