Woman claims her mare died, another vanished in care of family charged with animal cruelty

A longtime clientof a family facing animal cruelty charges for allegedly letting 13 horses die, while starving 15 others, says one of her horses died in their care and another disappeared.

Marie-France Anagnostopoulos claims one of her horses died in Whitchurch-Stouffville, Ont., at SpeedsportStables, a family-run horse boarding business, in October 2017.

Last Saturday,the carcasses of 10 horses were dug from the ground of a rural property the company had been renting. Just days earlier, the three other dead horses were discovered by neighbours in a trailer concealed by trees at the back of the farmland.

"I feel stupid and I'm disgusted," she said. "I'm an animal lover, you know, a horse gets hurt and I feel upside down, inside out, so I can't even reconcile the fact that they would bury horses or that they would have contributed to so many deaths."

Speedsport Stables run by Small family

SpeedsportStables is owned by Victoria "Vicki" Small, according to Ontario corporation records, but its clients say it was a family business.

DavidSmall, his wife Victoria, and their 32-year-old son Jason arecharged with nine animal cruelty offences following an investigation of the rural propertyby the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA).

The trio are each accused of allowing an animal to be in distress, failingto provide adequate food and failing to provide care necessary for general welfare between April 1 and April 22.If convicted, theycould face a maximum penalty of two years in prison, a $60,000 fine, or both, under the OSPCA Act.

'She was like family to me'

Anagnostopoulosbought two broodmare horses from David Small, named Constantina and Go Gin, shortly after she startedboarding her daughter'shorse with Speedsport Stables in July 2016.

"They told methey were really into racing and they took very good care of their horses. David was like, 'I would never, never hurt a horse.' And I didn't doubt them," she said.

The company was renting a farm in Newmarket, Ont., at the time, before Anagnostopoulossaid they were evicted in May 2017 and moved to atemporary location. Speedsport Stables spent the summer there before the business relocated to theproperty they rented in Whitchurch-Stouffville, Ont., that was then investigated by the OSPCA.

After the move, Anagnostopoulossays Small told her Constantina, one of her broodmare horses, fell ill and needed to be put down days later at the advice of a equine veterinarian.

"She was like family to me. She was my favourite broodmare," she explained, noting that she was devastated by her death. "She was just a beautiful animal."

The Smalls were supposed to have Constantina's remains cremated, Anagonstopoulossaid.

"I never obviously got her ashes and I never got to see her again."

This March, Anagonstopoulosmoved two horses boarded at SpeedsportStables that belonged to her daughter to a different barn because she suspected they weren't being properly cared for. When she returned to the property in April, she says her second broodmare, Go Gin, who she left to breed with a stallion there, had disappeared.

"I don't know what happened to her," she said.

Jason Small denied that his father and SpeedsportStables ever bred horses and says no harm ever cameto the animalsin the company's care. He told CBC Toronto his parents originally started the company when they retired to rescueabandoned horses and relocate them.