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Owner Of Rescued Horses Says He Was Duped Into Signing Over Animals

CHICORA (KDKA) -- A Butler County horse farmer is telling his side of the story after signing over six horses that were in his care to a local rescue association.

Brian Arendosh claims he has adequate food, supplies and shelter to care for horses on his farm in Chicora.

Arendosh has three horses left after signing over six to Equine Angels Rescue.

He says owner Pam Vivirito wanted to rescue the horses, claiming they were emaciated and living in awful conditions. But Arendosh accuses her of using scare tactics to get him to surrender the animals.

KDKA's Bob Allen Reports:

"She ended up telling me that she would have the media crawling all over this place if I did not surrender these six horses to her; and if I surrendered these horses to her, she would just pick them up and there would be nothing mentioned," Arendosh said.

Arendosh says not only did Vivirito show up early, but she also broke her promise.

"She was supposed to come Friday at two o'clock. Within two hours on Thursday, she had horse trailers sitting up and media storming the area," said Arendosh. "And I called her and asked, 'What's going on?' She said, 'This is how I get donations for my 40 horses that I take care of. She did it at my expense."

Arendosh says he has plenty of water on his property, receipts for hay and proof of medical supplies.

He admits the horses were thinner, but says it wasn't due to a lack of care. He says some of the horses came from another property last summer, and several others were from a farm next door.

The rescued horses were reportedly 200 to 400 pounds underweight.

Watch Brenda Waters' report on the horse rescue:

Arendosh says the dispute is far from over. He plans to fight to keep his three remaining horses.

He says he will talk to an attorney about getting the other six horses back, and he also plans to file a defamation of character lawsuit against Equine Angels.

The head of the rescue group wants police to file animal cruelty charges in the case.

RELATED LINKS
Malnourished Horses Rescued From Chicora Farm (3/23/13)
More Chicora News
More Butler County News

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