Pluto is an adorable baby goat whose original rescue story is almost completely unknown to me. I know that he was orphaned and was rescued around the beginning of 2022. The photo above is Pluto wearing a little onesie and cuddling with Ashley DiFelice's boyfriend at the time (now her fiancé), Keith Garner. The image is from one of his Instagram posts and is dated February 5th.
The caption reads: "When your gf is the most remarkable woman you've ever met and teaches you, and lets you help her raise a malnourished baby goat. And you literally fall in love with him. Meet Pluto :) #twistoffatefarmsanctuary #goats #littlemiracles #luckyman"
Keith also posted a video of him with Pluto and Pluto was bleating and running around a house, though I don't have that video. Marla from Riley Farm shared a photo on the Riley Farm Patreon of her with Ashley and Ashley holding Pluto, also dated February of 2022. He has the cutest markings and is such a sweet little baby.
Ashley and Keith took Pluto with them everywhere, bottle-fed him and changed his diapers, basically treating him like a human baby.
Pluto died sometime between February and July. He was not among the survivors at the former Twist of Fate property.
I don't have any children of my own, but I was a nanny for 10 years and was baby-sitting for a long while before that. Of all of the families that I took care of while I was a nanny, I only had one boy. And he was the only baby that I bottle-fed. That was always my favorite time of the day - I was probably 19 or 20, and I would sit in the rocking chair with Tyler while his older sister looked through books and I would rock him, feed him his formula, talk to him, occasionally sing to him really embarrassingly and off-key and we'd look at each other and smile. I really bonded with that baby boy. I don't know how someone couldn't or wouldn't bond with a baby that they bottle-fed, whether that baby was a human or an animal. The fact that Ashley and Keith treated Pluto as a human child, bottle-feeding him and all and that he died is incredibly...unsettling.
No one knows what Pluto died from - could it have been medical issues? Starvation? Ashley never offered up that information to anyone. However, considering what she put the majority of the animals through that were under her "care", we are left to conclude the worst.
A note: I wanted to share this on this story in particular since I have so little info to go off of, but I do want to say that there are things that I could possibly be wrong about along the way with telling the stories of the animals. Ashley was never very forthcoming with information and details about the animals overall and she still isn't, over a year later. She never made or shared a list of all the animals that died, even with the sanctuaries that came in to clean up the bodies and the mess or rehome the survivors. She never made any kind of public statement whatsoever, even after admitting her guilt and apologizing to the other sanctuary owners for letting them down and letting the animals down. Trust me - there are MANY things that I would absolutely LOVE to be wrong about - I would love it if some of the animals that I believe to be dead turn up alive. I hope that Pluto passed peacefully and not slowly and painfully from starving to death like I suspect he did.
She kept very little records of all of her animals, and the records that she did keep were sparse and unorganized. All of the sanctuaries that took in the survivors basically had to start from scratch when it came to the animals' pre-existing conditions, medical needs, vaccinations, etc. Many of the animals had untreated illnesses and injuries. Several of her intakes didn't even have names. A vet had not been to see any of the TOF animals since November of 2021, 8 months before the cruelty was discovered. Eight months before the pile of dead animals was found.
All of the info that I have presented in the petition and updates and that I present going forward are true to the extent of my knowledge. I speak with numerous people before writing and publishing a story to gather up all of the information that I possibly can. I have files for this case everywhere. Notes, photos, documents, spreadsheets. Proof. Also - being an introvert, observer and avid reader and movie/TV watcher all from a very young age I am big on context clues as well as coming to conclusions logically. With all of the above said though, if/when any new information comes to light about anything that I have previously written or anything that I write going forward, I will update that article to include the new facts and possibly share a new published update about it as well.
Sadly, what I've written above is all I know about Pluto. It's all anyone knows. I'm so sorry that I couldn't tell you more of his story. I only have two photos of him, and both of them are marred by the faces of his abusers which infuriates me beyond words. This tiny baby that needed to be bottle-fed after losing his mother deserved better than what he got, and he also deserves better than what I can offer him. I'm so sorry, Pluto. We love you and we'll remember you.
Thank you for being here.
Ashley's next court date is October 12th.
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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!!