Karen and her babies Len and Leanne were first rescued in February of 2022 from a bad breeding/hoarding case that Ashley DiFelice was working on along with Leanne of Goats of Anarchy, and mama had recently given birth. Many of the goats at the property were pregnant or babies, and they were told that several were dying from the cold or pregnancy complications. An older post from Goats of Anarchy stated that Ashley took several goats from the site, but I'm not sure how many or what their names were. The post also mentions that one of the babies was in the hospital, and a second post mentions that Ashley went back to the property to pull even more goats, but I again don't know who they were, how many there were, or what happened to any of them besides Karen and her babies.
Unfortunately Karen, Len, and Leanne's original names are not known, and it's quite possible that they didn't have any to begin with. When Ashley pulled them and anyone else from that hoarding case she had already been neglecting and starving animals for a while, so it's possible that she never bothered to name them anyway.
At one time Ashley was making dozens and dozens of posts per month on the old Twist of Fate Patreon and then gradually it started to become less and less and...less. The rescue of this goat family was her ONLY post in February 2022, and before that she hadn't posted since December 2021. After February she didn't post again until four months later in July, and about 2 weeks after that final post her months and months of abuse was discovered. Any and all posts that she made on Patreon, Instagram, and Facebook were complete lies. Those animals weren't being "rescued" and they were far from safe. She pulled animals masking it as "rescuing" them in order to solicit donations and then she left them to die.
Karen originally gave birth to three babies - only two made it out alive. Sadly I don't know that little one's name, but I think about her often. She deserved so much better. No one knows what happened to her and likely never will, but she was not found among the survivors. I was sent a screenshot of Ashley's Instagram post about her new goat family "rescue" back from Feb 2022 and it had (in part) the following caption: "Look at this proud mama! I love her so dearly". Well Ashley - actions speak louder than words and you clearly did NOT love that mama, or any of her babies, or any of the animals that were under your "care" that you stopped taking care of and left to slowly and painfully starve to death. We most likely will never know what happened to Karen's third baby, but we do know that Karen truly knows what love is and what it means and that she loved and cared for all three of her children and did the best to protect them until the very end. The photo above is (as far as I know) the only photo of Karen with all three of her children and is from the February 2022 post about their arrival at Twist of Fate.
In July 2022 they were found living in a crate inside a filthy barn at the former Twist of Fate "sanctuary". Karen and her two surviving kids were taken in by Marla of The Riley Farm Rescue (@therileyfarmrescue) and given their names. Karen was named after the co-founder of animal sanctuary Rancho Relaxo Catilin's mother, Len was named after the other co-founder of Rancho who is also Caitlin's husband, and Leanne was named after the founder of Goats of Anarchy. Riley Farm also took in Rumi the bull, Boots the tortoise, and Clovis the goat* from the TOF case. Since this family of goats didn't appear to have names they were not specifically mentioned on the list of survivors so I don't know their exact body score at the time of their rescue from Ashley, but Karen was incredibly emaciated with visible ribs and protruding hip bones. The two babies looked better, and it could be that they had still been nursing from Karen, which would have drained her body even more. I can't imagine the pain that Karen went through, not only from being hungry day after day but also from watching her children suffer.
All three made a wonderful recovery and they get to live out the rest of their lives together with all of the food, open spaces, fresh air, warm sunshine and cool breezes that they could ever want or need. They have made friends with the other goats and animals at Riley Farm and continue to be happy and healthy.
If you would like to support Karen, Leanne, and/or Len or the other rescued residents of The Riley Farm from the Twist of Fate cruelty case, please give them a follow @therileyfarmrescue. You can also make a donation towards their care via their website, Venmo (@therileyfarmrescue), CashApp ($therileyfarmrescue), or PayPal (therileyfarmrescue@gmail.com). To make a monthly donation towards their care or anyone else's at the sanctuary, you can join their Patreon for any amount or sponsor one of the animals by joining their Hoof Patrol. They also have an Amazon Wishlist and adorable merch for sale here and on Bonfire. AND if you're near the Canterbury, CT area or want to plan a trip, you can book a private tour of Riley Farm here!!
Thank you to Marla and the rest of the Riley Farm volunteers for taking such good care of this family.
And thank you to all of you for being here!
Click to read the stories of Rumi, Boots, and Clovis.
Ashley DiFelice's next court date still has not been announced. I have emailed the prosecution team a couple of times already to see when it will be scheduled or why it is being delayed but so far haven't heard anything. I'll update as soon as I know anything though! Please continue to share the petition in the meantime. Thank you!