Not only the number of "students" are low at CSA

[seamus]

an besides, come spring those sheep will be some kinda tasty!!!!!!!! Mint jelly mmm....mmm

[Ursus]

my pops died in 86. He was an Irish immigrant,and functionally illiterae. However ,he once told me that the only way you could reall judge a man, was by how he treated his horse...was he wrong?

Ooh... personally, I think you could also include someone's dog, or pretty much any other domesticated animal someone is very close to... Other than that, I agree with your pops on this one.

[Ursus]

"Breaking News" from Lon:

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

Breaking News
Posted: Sep 21, 2010

Confirmed - Carolina Springs Academy Closed

Compiled by Lon Woodbury
September 21, 2010

Although we have been hearing through the Grapevine for some time that the controversial Carolina Springs Academy in South Carolina (part of the WWASPS collection of schools) had been closed, we had been unable to find any reputable confirmation or information on that on the Internet. However, recent news stories on Sept. 10th confirmed that it had indeed been closed down, with obviously some confusion and rancor accompanying the April 2009 closing. See stories One and Two. Not only is there still an issue of abandoned animals, but also legal action regarding unpaid rent for the property.

The owner of the school is identified as Narvin Lichfield of Utah, who had also been an owner of the now closed Dundee Ranch in Costa Rica. The last known on site administrator of Carolina Springs Academy was Elaine Davis.

Both Carolina Springs Academy and Narvin Lichfield have been involved with the controversial World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASPS), which is the target of an ongoing lawsuit by the Turley Law Firm of Dallas Texas. The copy of the latest amended version can be found at turleylaw.com, under Recent News and Filings. This version is the Fifth Amended Complaint dated January 15, 2010.


Copyright ©2010, Woodbury Reports, Inc.

[Ursus]

Here's an updated version (different link) of the full article that ThomasC excerpted earlier:

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

Prosecutor asks for SLED help in animal cruelty case

Kirk Brown · Anderson Independent Mail
Posted September 21, 2010 at 7:04 p.m.

ABBEVILLE — A prosecutor said Tuesday that he has asked the State Law Enforcement Division for assistance in investigating animal cruelty allegations at the site of a former boarding school.

Eighth Judicial Circuit Solicitor Jerry Peace called SLED's Piedmont District field office last week about the horses and sheep that were removed in August from a 450-acre tract near Due West in Abbeville County.

A number of decomposing livestock carcasses also were found on the property and Peace said he is hoping that SLED can provide a forensic veterinarian to investigate the case.

Peace's request came as a surprise to Chief Deputy Marion T. Johnson of the Abbeville County Sheriff's Office. Johnson said that an animal control officer had been monitoring the well-being of the animals at the former Carolina Springs Academy boarding school since June.

"The animals were not being deprived of food and water," Johnson said. He also said that the animals were removed from the property without the owner's permission.

Joe Mann, who spearheaded the removal of seven horses and more than 40 sheep from the property, disputed Johnson's comments.

Mann said that Narvin Lichfield, the owner of the horses and sheep, gave him permission to rescue them.

"The animals were dying," said Mann, who is president of the Greenwood County Humane Society's board of directors.

Mann said a foal died in his arms on the property because its mother was too weak to provide nourishment. He also said that the sheep had eaten the bark off trees on the property in a desperate bid to find food.

The horses and sheep that Mann removed from the property are being cared for at his ranch and in another landowner's pasture.

Lichfield and his attorney could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Lichfield, who was the founder of the academy, has not been charged in the case of the animals. The school has been closed since earlier this year.


© 2010 Anderson Independent Mail.

[Ursus]

National animal rights group wants SLED to investigate Abbeville County case

Kirk Brown · Anderson Independent Mail
Posted September 29, 2010 at 4:57 p.m., updated September 29, 2010 at 4:57 p.m.

ABBEVILLE — A national animal rights group attorney is urging the State Law Enforcement Division to take charge of an investigation into the mistreatment of livestock at a former boarding school in Abbeville County.

"I don't understand why state law enforcement is not getting involved," said Dana Campbell of the Animal Legal Defense Fund. "We need a criminal investigation."

Several starving horses and about 40 malnourished sheep were rescued from a 450-acre tract near Due West in August by Joe Mann, who is president of the Greenwood County Humane Society’s board of directors. Mann also discovered the skeletal remains of numerous livestock on the site where the now-closed Carolina Springs Academy was located.

Eighth Judicial Circuit Solicitor Jerry Peace asked for SLED's assistance in the case earlier this month. He said Wednesday that he has not heard back from the agency on his request for the appointment of a forensic veterinarian.

"I've done everything I can do," Peace said.

SLED spokeswoman Jennifer Timmons indicated in an email Wednesday that she was checking on the status of Peace's request.

Campbell, a former prosecutor who is recognized as a national expert in animal law, said she has consulted with Peace and Mann about the case. She said she also plans to contact SLED officials today.

Campbell said one of her main concerns is that no steps have been taken to secure the area where the animals were found.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund is a California-based organization that was formed in 1979 to protect the lives and advance the interests of animals through the legal system.

In a related development, Abbeville County Sheriff's Detective Patrick Thompson and an Abbeville County animal control officer visited Mann's Greenwood County ranch on Tuesday to photograph the sheep that he rescued.

Mann said the encounter ended acrimoniously, adding that he still does not believe Abbeville County authorities are conducting a thorough investigation.

Det. Thompson declined to respond to Mann's comments, saying only that his investigation of the case is still pending and that no charges have been filed.

Narvin Lichfield, the founder of Carolina Springs Academy who has been identified as the owner of the horses and sheep, and his attorney could not be reached Wednesday.


© 2010 Anderson Independent Mail.

[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