UPDATED 9:15 AM EDT Sep 10, 2010
DUE WEST, S.C. —
Law officers and animal rescue groups in Greenwood and Abbeville Counties are looking into why dozens of animals were left for dead on the property of a now-closed school for troubled teens.
According to the South Carolina Department of Social Services, Carolina Springs Academy had their license revoked in April, 2009 for failure to comply with licensing regulations.
Officials at the Greenwood Humane Society said when the school closed, all the animals on the farmland were left behind.
The remains of more than 70 animals were found on the Due West property in varying states of decay. Dozens of starving animals were also found, many of them near death.
Joe Mann with Big Oak Rescue Farm said his group has taken in some of the surviving animals. Of the seven horses and two colts found, Mann said one was dead. He also counted 30 sheep carcasses, with 20 surviving animals. At least 41 out of the 50 ducks found on the property were also dead, Mann said.
A former Carolina Springs employee reported 32 cows or calves starved to death, according to Greenwood Humane Society Executive Director Karen Pettay. She said with all of the kudzu overgrowth, they only found a few of the carcasses.
The Abbeville Sheriff’s Office is investigating this case.
