Finally. Itโ€™s been a long road to a sentence in an animal cruelty case that started in May of 2018. At least that is when the investigation started into the owners of SpeedSport Stables, David, Victoria and Jason Small. For the horses involved, according to the veterinarians who assessed the horses for the court and the OSPCA, it started months earlier. Both stated that the horsesโ€™ condition was so poor that they had clearly been in a chronic, ongoing state of starvation and lack of care. Equine veterinarian Oscar Calvete was on scene at the start and attended every court date. He called it the worst case of animal neglect heโ€™s seen in his 36-year career.

To recap, in August of 2017, the Small family rented the farm property from owner Michael Cheung (who did not live there). By April 2018 they were falling behind in rent and Cheung contacted police who told him to lock the farm gates so that the delinquent renters could not enter and remove property. Unfortunately, this meant that no one was caring for the animals. The OSPCA had also been called, but declined to remove them at that time, so Cheung contacted a nearby racing farm, Adena Springs, and his neighbours for help and by mid-May the 14 emaciated horses, a pig and four chickens on the farm were being removed. As well as 7 dead horses. Later, a neighbor, Louise Leifer, discovered a cache of more buried horses, some long decomposed.

Fast forward through multiple court appearances, legal representation changes (which delayed things further), the Smalls finally pled guilty and โ€œexpressed remorseโ€ on April 18, 2019, โ€œsaving the province multiple trial days,โ€ according to David Smallโ€™s lawyer, Calvin Barry. After reviewing the case law, the Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Equines, a Community Impact Statement and veterinarian and OSPCA testimony, the judge imposed the following on all three defendants:

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