More details are emerging about an ongoing investigation at a Julian animal sanctuary from which hundreds of animals have been taken after being found in various stages of neglect.
San Diego Humane Society president Gary Weitzman described the rescue as “unprecedented” in the 145-year history of the organization. Hundreds of animals have been transported from the Villa Chardonnay property in one of the biggest, if not the biggest ever, animal rescue operation in San Diego.
So far, 334 cats, 30 dogs, 29 chickens, eight ducks, four geese, four turkeys, three roosters, two peahens, one peacock, two ravens, one crow, 12 goats, three pigs, and one sheep have been moved to shelters.
“There’s no question at all about the neglect, at the very least, that occurred out there,” Weitzman said at a press conference at the Humane Society’s San Diego campus. “There’s no question in my mind that this is in the best interest of those animals’ welfare. This had to happen.”
The owner has yet to face charges while evidence is under review. But the press conference provided more details on what led to the rescue and the legal interventions so far.
Although complaints about the 40-acre property had circulated for years from national organizations like the Humane Farming Association, the owner reportedly stonewalled efforts for outside medical and animal groups to enter the property.
It was not until the owner went into bankruptcy that the Humane Society was granted access by the property’s trustee.
In fact, SDHS officials noted that their legislative team is trying to have California start a singular regulatory agency so that private sanctuaries like Villa Chardonnay would receive oversight.
The Humane Society’s law enforcement chief, Jace Huggins, shared that an initial visit to the cats in April spurred SDHS to take the allegations seriously and seek drastic, legal intervention. Julian is technically out of their jurisdiction, but the San Diego County Department of Animal Services partnered with them on the investigation and rescue, along with other welfare agencies who have stepped in to support the rescue and shelter animals.
In that April visit, SDHS found a cattery less than a thousand square feet in size holding hundreds of cats, many of whom showed injuries from fighting and evidence of communicable diseases. Most of the over 300 cats were underweight, with some emaciated.
As an example of the conditions, Huggins shared that he came across a cat that had a deep neck laceration, enough to show the muscle beneath, but had no evidence of receiving medical care.
After the first cat visit, Huggins sought entry to see the horses. With national animal welfare organizations filming covert videos and allegations on both sides, he said it was important to him to see the conditions with his own eyes before requesting a search warrant.
It was another three weeks before SDHS had authorization to remove cats and other animals from the property.
“Our medical teams have been working around the clock since we received the first wave of animals,” Zarah Hedge, chief medical officer at SDHS, said. “The majority of the cats so far have some type of medical issue.”
However, veterinary teams euthanized several animals, including a bull having seizures, a pony and four horses. In addition, in a litter of diseased neo-natal kittens, one died and another was euthanized.
This has spurred defenders of the sanctuary to speak out, as Villa Chardonnay had a no kill, no exceptions policy and catered to senior and disabled horses and animals.
The Humane Society said they are humanely euthanizing as a last resort and only with the unanimous sign-off of multiple veterinarians, including experts at the East County Large and Small Animal Practice.
In the case of two of the horses, their previous owners were in contact with SDHS and signed off on the euthanization. In one of those cases, the owners surrendered the horse to the sanctuary with promises of medical treatment.
“That horse went to that sanctuary with promises of ongoing medical care for a significant medical issue,” Huggins said. “We have found absolutely no evidence of any of that medical care being provided here.”
The investigation is ongoing. In addition to alleged neglect of basic husbandry and medical care, the conditions may break California’s confinement laws on the size of enclosures for certain species.
“It’s not going to be fast because of the amount of evidence and the amount of history that we have to go through, but it’s going to be as fast as we humanly can get it done,” Huggins said.
Department of Animal Services director Brie Sarvis urged people to adopt animals. County shelters have an additional 70 animals from the rescue, while SDHS has hundreds of animals. However, those animals are currently too medically fragile for adoption.
“So any adoptions of the the animals that are currently available will be very helpful in our ability to focus our efforts on taking care of the animals that need this care from the case,” Sarvis said.
In addition, previous owners who surrendered animals to Villa Chardonnay can fill out a form on SDHS’s website to seek reunification.
