New revelations and questions about OSPCA in wake of animal cruelty investigation

Catherine James had serious qualms about digging up the dead, and the memories they had buried, but it is a story she wants told.

James said a friend used a backhoe to dig up the bones of at least 16 horses she found dead in a pile on the Bethany farm she moved to in February 2015.

She said initially everything was covered with snow, then came the spring melt.

READ MORE: Ontario horse sanctuary accused of animal neglect

“It still does affect me. The smell alone, the death smell it was horrible.”

As the backhoe scraped against the dry earth, countless bones emerged from the ground, skulls, rib bones, back bones and what appeared to be a dog’s jaw.

James said she reported the discovery to the OSPCA and an investigator went out to have a look but said there was nothing they could do.

The animals were already dead and the former resident had moved off the property.

READ MORE: Owner fights to get horse back from Ontario sanctuary accused of neglect

James says she told the OSPCA they could find the former tenant, Sandra Reed, at her new farm Whisper Ridge Ranch, near Peterborough.

Hearing nothing back from the OSPCA, eventually James let it go.

Then in July, Whisper Ridge Ranch was on the news, amid allegations horses were being neglected and starved.

When the OSPCA found no wrongdoing, James said she wanted to know whether they had ever followed up on her complaint, so she asked the society for the files.

“They said I can’t have them because of confidentiality issues. I said, ‘But if I filed them, how come they are confidential for me?,'”she said adding the OSCPA agent then responded that they couldn’t find the records.

READ MORE: Horses at Peterborough-area sanctuary are getting the care they require: OSPCA

Despite granting the OSPCA the equivalent of policing powers, and contributing $5.5 million a year for cruelty investigations and enforcement, the provincial government chose not to include the agency under the jurisdiction of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario.

Global News asked David Orazietti, the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, what kind of oversight the OSPCA is subject to.

“So, it’s very important that the resources that we dedicate are spent for the intended purpose,” responded Orazietti.

He was pressed repeatedly with the same question.

“That’s something we are going to be reviewing and discussing,” he said.

As for why there isn’t more oversight now.

“Because animal welfare in terms of the oversight that has taken place and the enforcement has worked fairly well,” he said.

Those looking for answers would tend to disagree.

Both the OSPCA and the owner of Whisper Ridge have refused all interview requests.