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Man Suing Equine Rescue Group, Says He Was Pressured To Give Up Horses

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Glen Kleinfelter remembers an encounter he had with Pam Vivirito of Equine Angels Rescue.

He says she showed up at his Peaceful Valley campground site making accusations about his treatment of horses.

"She says, 'Mr. Kleinfelter is starving his horses, he's doing this,'" he said. "She says, 'I know for a fact that they shot this poor horse and he buried it on his property,' there is no such thing."

Kleinfelter says Vivirito demanded that he surrender an aging horse to her organization, but he refused.

"'If you don't give me what I want,'" he said quoting her, "these are words coming out of her mouth, 'if you don't give me what I want, I will have another news station – I'm not going to mention the name -- and I will have them come out and we will have them slander you all over the place get a hold of you.'"

Brian Arendosh says Equine Angels came on his property pressuring him with similar tactics to sign over six horses

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

Kleinfelter says he has receipts to prove his horses are well fed and cared for.

He says Vivirito had him charged with animal cruelty.

He is suing her for defamation of character among other things.

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