Kelly Pleis threw in the horse blanket and vacated the county Open Space location on Route 47 as of Dec. 31, according to county Administrator Stephen O�Connor. Pleis told the Cape May County Herald that she gave some horses away, a few for "small adoption fees," and moved 15 to the Florida. She declined to identify the location.
�I�m renting a farm,� she said, �and supporting what is left of the rescue horses on my own. I didn�t want to send �em to a slaughter house".
"They�re all doing great,� she added, �fat and healthy.�
The county had attempted to evict Pleis for failure to pay her rent since September, but she and her attorney, Vincent Simone, resisted. Pleis later paid rent through the end of last year.
O�Connor said Gibson Parquini Group Inc. of Cherry Hill is examining the buildings to �identify deficiencies, structural difficulties and give us a cost projection what it would take to make the place usable.� He said he expects a report in four to six weeks.
When the county purchased the 33-acre former horse ranch in 1995 with $170,000 in open space funds, it said it hoped to �reestablish an equestrian center.�
There were a number of interested parties, but the county in July 2000 awarded a $2,500-a-year lease to Kelly Pleis and her father, William, without going through the bidding process. William Pleis died July 28 of last year.
The Pleises intended to take in abused, neglected and abandoned horses and give them a new life. Their lease was renewed in August 2001, and March 2003.
The state SPCA got involved last March after complaints about conditions at the ranch. It filed charges in May alleging animal cruelty, but they were dismissed in Middle Township Municipal Court in September when Judge Peter Tourison disallowed evidence gathered by the SPCA.
Pleis said she was acquitted in December. References | Cape May County Herald |
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