Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASPS)
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Ursus:
Abbeville County Council members upset over animal abuse case
Kirk Brown · Anderson Independent Mail
Posted October 12, 2010 at 5:19 p.m.
ABBEVILLE — Members of the Abbeville County Council expressed dismay Tuesday regarding the malnourished and dead livestock that were discovered at a former boarding school.
"Those animals should never have went through that," council member Ernest Ray Gunnells said.
His comments came after a Monday night meeting in which council members viewed dozens of photographs of starving horses and sheep and dead cattle at the now-closed Carolina Springs Academy near Due West.
The photographs were shown during a presentation by Joe Mann to the county council. Mann, who is president of the Greenwood County Humane Society's board of directors, rescued several starving horses and about 40 malnourished sheep from the 450-acre tract after learning of their plight in August.
"The council is very concerned," said Gunnells, who called Mann's presentation "terribly disturbing."
County council member Oscar Klugh said he also was troubled by the photographs.
"Whoever is responsible should be tracked down," Klugh said.
Mann said he and a group of about 20 concerned people left Monday's meeting after the presentation to the council.
Later in the meeting, Abbeville County Sheriff Charles Goodwin spoke to council members about the livestock at the former boarding school, interim county director Barry Devore said.
Goodwin, who was unavailable for comment Tuesday, told the council that the animals had access to food and water, Devore said. The sheriff also emphasized that no one filed a complaint with his office concerning the animals, Devore said.
In addition, Goodwin said that sheriff's officials were denied access to the rescued horses and sheep when they visited Mann's ranch, Devore said.
"It appears that the sheriff and Mr. Mann are on different pages," Klugh said. "I would like to have more information."
Mann on Tuesday disputed Goodwin's comments about his refusal to cooperate with Abbeville County sheriff's officials who went to his ranch last month.
"I didn't run them off," Mann said.
Mann also expressed frustration that no one is being held accountable for what he previously described as the worse case of animal cruelty he has ever seen.
"It's been two months and nobody has been charged," Mann said.
Eighth Judicial Circuit Solicitor Jerry Peace asked the State Law Enforcement Division to help investigate the case in September. Peace said Tuesday that he still has not heard back from SLED on his request for a forensic veterinarian.
"I have done everything I can do," Peace said.
Narvin Lichfield, the Carolina Springs Academy founder who Mann says gave him permission to remove the malnourished animals in August, could not be reached Tuesday.
© 2010 Anderson Independent Mail.
Ursus:
Owner denies animals mistreated on Abbeville property
By Kirk Brown · Anderson Independent Mail
Posted December 3, 2010 at 5:17 p.m.
ABBEVILLE COUNTY — Narvin Lichfield says a Humane Society official wrongfully seized his horses and sheep and he wants them returned.
Lichfield said his attorney has asked Joe Mann to bring back several horses and about 40 sheep that were taken from a 450-acre tract near Due West in Abbeville County. The property served as the campus for Carolina Springs Academy, a boarding school opened by Lichfield in 1998 that is now closed.
Lichfield said Mann, who is president of the Greenwood Humane Society's board of directors, intentionally misled him to obtain permission to remove the animals.
"He trespassed on my property," Lichfield said. "He misrepresented the condition of my animals."
Lichfield also said the animals that Mann removed from his property are worth $100,000.
Mann, who is recovering from a recent surgery, issued a brief response in an e-mail Friday.
"The animals were abandoned, starving and dying and after receiving permission from Lichfield to remove them, they were removed," Mann said. "They are now healthy, happy and safe and I have no further comment on the matter."
Mann has previously said that he received an anonymous tip in August about starving horses and sheep on the Carolina Springs Academy property. Upon visiting the property, Mann said, he discovered "the worst case of animal abuse I've been involved in."
Besides finding malnourished livestock, Mann said, he photographed numerous skeletal remains on the property.
After consulting with Mann, Eighth Judicial Circuit Solicitor Jerry Peace asked the State Law Enforcement Division for assistance in investigating allegations of animal cruelty at the Carolina Springs property. A national animal rights group also expressed interest in the case.
Abbeville County Council members voiced concern about the fate of livestock at Carolina Springs Academy after viewing Mann's photos at an Oct. 11 meeting.
During an interview Thursday night, Lichfield denied that any livestock on his property had been abandoned, neglected or abused. He said Elaine Davis, the former director of Carolina Springs Academy, fed the animals regularly.
"They're my animals — they're my babies," Lichfield said. "I love animals."
When he was first contacted by Mann in August, Lichfield said, he gave him permission to remove some ailing sheep and a Peruvian stallion.
After returning from a trip to Utah, Lichfield said, he visited his property in early September and was surprised to see Mann removing more animals that appeared perfectly healthy. Lichfield said Mann threatened to contact Abbeville County authorities unless he agreed not to interfere.
Lichfield said the dead animals that Mann photographed on the Carolina Springs Academy property probably succumbed to blue tongue disease.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, blue tongue disease is an insect-borne viral illness that primarily affects sheep and occasionally goats and deer.
Abbeville veterinarian Melinda Gray said Friday that she has not heard about or treated any cases of blue tongue disease during the past decade.
© 2010 Anderson Independent Mail.
Ursus:
Photos accompanying the above article, "Owner denies animals mistreated on Abbeville property" (by Kirk Brown; December 3, 2010; Anderson Independent Mail):
Joe Mann, president of the Greenwood County Humane Society’s board of directors, answers questions about the animals that he removed from a former boarding school in Abbeville County. This photo was taken in October.
This is one of the horses that Joe Mann removed from a former boarding school in Abbeville County.
Joe Mann says he found these animal skulls at a former boarding school in Abbeville County.
© 2010 Anderson Independent Mail.
Ursus:
See also the following currently active and interconnected threads:
* 2nd try as Magnolia Christian School (Carolina Springs)
viewtopic.php?f=44&t=32292
* Florida woman's crusade against school led to books, lawsuit
viewtopic.php?f=54&t=32375
* Abbeville school had role in rise and fall of enterprise...
viewtopic.php?f=44&t=32376
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