Today the 14th was supposed to be another court appearance for Ashley DiFelice. At the previous court hearing in July the judge had made it clear that the next court appearance would either result in some sort of outcome or the case would go to trial.
However, Ashley's lawyer requested a postponement and unfortunately it was granted. There could be any number of reasons for this - he might have had a conflict with another case, he could've had a medical reason, Ashley or one of her children could've had a medical reason, possibly he hasn't been paid yet, or it could be a simple issue of some paperwork not being in order.
The postponement is unfortunate news for Ashley's animal victims, who have waited over a year for their recognition and their dignity and for their voices to be heard. The animals deserve justice. This is unfortunate news for Ashley's human victims, her former friends and (legit) sanctuary founders who were left to clean up her mess, literally and figuratively, take in her animals, assume financial responsibility for the property cleanup, body removal, and the lifetime costs of the care of the survivors. They also have to attempt to heal from the emotional, mental, physical, and psychological trauma of what they saw at the former Twist of Fate property because of Ashley's actions. These people deserve to have their voices heard. This is unfortunate news for Ashley's former donors and supporters, the ones that she stole money from and forever placed the secondary guilt of contributing to the animals' abuse and deaths. We also want to have our voices heard.
The new date for Ashley's next court appearance is October 12th. Let's hope that THIS is it.
In the last update where I detailed Ashley's 17 charges of animal cruelty, I mentioned and included photos of the two donkeys named Benny & Forest. They were originally freely roaming wild burros until they were rounded up by the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) in 2020 and then sold, only to next end up in a kill pen. Ashley pulled them from slaughter only to eventually deliberately starve them and neglect their basic care until they both had body scores of 1.0 out of 5. Out of the 17 charges against her, Benny and Forest each have one. Happily, the above photo is a current photo of the donkeys, now named Bonnie and Clyde!! (Benny's name was Benny/Benita). They were adopted into a private home last July and are now well cared for and healthy.
On to something better though: I wanted to especially say thank you to Jamie Baldanza (@thismustanglife) for helping me to find Bonnie and Clyde and providing me with a photo and info. I was so worried that these two had been taken in by Ashley and her father when I couldn't locate them, and I am SO relieved to see that they are safe. Jamie was one of the first people on the scene at Twist of Fate that day in July and she was such a huge help in placing the animals from the TOF case.
**ETA: I forgot to include this in the original post because my brain is fried this week, but Jamie actually took in two horses from TOF, River and Yuma. Both of them will have their stories shared soon, but a quick summary: River is a beautiful 9 year old mustang that had a body score of 2.0 out of 5. He was originally born in a holding pen but somehow found his way to Twist of Fate.
Yuma was at the offsite Twist of Fate boarding facility. Ashley had 12 horses there and was $8,000 in debt to the property owner. Yet another person that Ashley was taking advantage of. Of the surrendered horses, 20 year old mustang Yuma went to Triple 7 Rescue for some rehab before landing back with Jamie. He is older, and after he was rescued he had several health emergencies including a surgery, two impactions and issue with his teeth - his teeth hadn't been taken care of in a long time and he wasn't able to chew his hay properly. The smallest actions and efforts could've helped him, but Ashley didn't bother.
In the madness of getting all of the animals off the TOF property and away from Ashley as soon as possible, River and Yuma got lost in the shuffle and raising the initial fundraising for their vetting and care fell short. Jamie also personally took on the medical and surgical expenses for another TOF survivor, horse Susie Sway. If you can, please consider making a donation to Jamie/This Mustang Life via the links listed below.
Jamie is an AMAZING photographer and often photographs animals in sanctuaries (most often at Sky Dog Sanctuary - @skydogsanctuary), as well as the wild horses in Theodore National Park and the public lands that the Bureau of Land Management controls. Regarding the BLM, they determine how many wild horses can live on the land, taking into account the other animals on the land as well as the interests of the ranchers* and the National Park Service. If the population goes over a certain amount, then the government conducts a roundup and it will remove the horses. Those wild horses are then offered up to the public for adoption. According to Jamie, if a wild horse is offered to the public three times and no one adopts him/her, then the horse can be sold for $25 without limitations, which means that anyone can just pick up a horse and do whatever they want with them - this leads to the slaughter pipeline and kill buyers are looking for these deals where they can pick up free or cheap horses. Jamie has adopted several of these "3 strike" horses and brought them home to her sanctuary, Sage Hill (@sagehillnj, though she posts more on her other accounts). You can also view more of her beautiful photography on her website!
Jamie also started a nonprofit, Wild Lands Wild Horses (@wlwh_fund) that raises funds and awareness for wild horses and burros (like Bonnie & Clyde!) through film, rescue, education, and more. Please check out their website and Instagram, and if you'd like to support her cause, you can make a donation through PayPal or Venmo (both linked on the WLWH website), their GoFundMe, or send them something from their Amazon Wishlist. And if you'd like to donate on a monthly basis you can join their Patreon. Looking for other ways to support? Jamie sells her stunning horse photos as prints! And WLWH also has cute tees, tanks and sweatshirts available on Bonfire.
You can watch 'Pass SAFE Act Now - a film by Skydog Sanctuary and This Mustang Life' narrated by Daryl Hannah on YouTube, and you can also check out WLWH's official YouTube channel.
Please give Jamie a follow on both of her IG accounts (@thismustanglife) and @wlwh_fund) to help support the amazing work that she's doing for horses and all animals. To read more about The Safe Act to save and protect horses, please click on their site here. There are links on the site to donate to that cause too, as well as tips on how you can help.
*Just a reminder - the main reason why the BLM is rounding up horses is to make room for even more cattle/"beef" farmers, which means that the cost of your steaks or burgers is not only that of the lives of the cows, but also the lives of most of these wild horses and burros as well. Please learn about where the animals that are used for your food come from and what they have to endure, as well as the effects on the surrounding animals and environment. To learn more about the best way that you can help ALL animals, please click here or here.
Thank you so much for being here and for your support!
Since change.org only allows 3 updates to be published per week, this will be the last update for this week. I'll go back to sharing the animals' stories next week!
Please continue to share the petition across all channels. (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, Snapchat, WhatsApp, NextDoor, YouTube, WeChat, Telegram, Pinterest, Reddit, Tumblr, etc, and please send it directly to people via email and/or text). If you have already shared it, please share it again.
We are trying to get as many signatures and comments on the petition as possible before then, especially since the prosecution and the judge are aware of it. Thank you!!