FEB. 20, 2025:

Following weeks of public complaints and concerns about the welfare of a large number of horses living in poor conditions on a farm in Oro-Medonte, Ontario, and later in Port Perry, they have been seized by the province’s Animal Welfare Services (AWS).

A series of disturbing events became the catalyst for this response when a horse-owning neighbour of Stephanie Redlick’s, Jim Horne, was alerted that a newborn foal was in distress at the farm on Feb. 2. The filly was found unblanketed in an uninsulated barn and despite assurances she would be properly cared for, she later died. Horne noted that other horses in Redlick’s care were in very poor condition and there was a noticeable lack of fresh water and feed.

From that time until Feb. 10, many concerned individuals – including the mayor of Oro-Medonte and the Orillia [Ontario Provincial Police] OPP – contacted AWS to make formal complaints about Redlick and the horses, four of which she eventually agreed to relinquish to a caring family. One of those, a five-year-old Thoroughbred named Seattle Sunrise who had raced at Woodbine, was so starved that even with heroic veterinary care, he had to be euthanized.