Former Virginia Horse Rescue Operator Indicted for Fraud

Anne Goland was indicted on several embezzlement counts related to an animal cruelty investigation that began last year.
Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

A Virginia woman has been indicted on several counts of embezzlement stemming from an animal cruelty investigation that began last year.

In October 2015, the Orange County, Virginia, Sheriff’s Office began investigating conditions at Peaceable Farm, near Somerset. During the probe, authorities discovered a herd of 89 allegedly emaciated horses, along with the remains of seven other horses. Investigators also found two donkeys, 28 cats, and seven dogs. The farm’s owner Anne Goland (also known as Anne Schumate Williams) surrendered 71 horses, along with the dogs and several cats. She retained possession of 18 horses, the two donkeys, a bull, and the remaining cats.

Veterinarians subsequently assessed all the horses and euthanized five due to their poor condition. Another 10 horses were determined to be in need of immediate veterinary care and were seized after Goland declined to surrender them. All of the seized or surrendered horses were removed from the property and placed in rehabilitative care at several horse rescues. Investigators received permission to conduct welfare checks on the animals that remained in Goland’s possession.

Goland was subsequently charged with 27 counts of animal cruelty, said Orange County Sheriff Mark Amos

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Written by:

Pat Raia is a veteran journalist who enjoys covering equine welfare, industry, and news. In her spare time, she enjoys riding her Tennessee Walking Horse, Sonny.

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

When do you begin to prepare/stock up on products/purchase products for these skin issues?
86 votes · 86 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!