Animal cruelty accused owned ranch
A woman recently charged with 33 counts of animal cruelty is the former owner of Whisper Ridge Ranch.
The Ontario SPCA announced the accusations Monday, but didn’t release a name.
Sandra Reed-Buyers (formerly Sandra Reed) faces the allegations, according to court documents. She couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday.
The 56-year-old was charged after an OSPCA investigation began in April.
Initially, an OSPCA officer issued orders to provide the animals with the standards of care required by law. When those orders weren’t met by May 30, they seized a horse, goat, three dogs and 22 sheep that were emaciated.
The animals are now at the Peterborough Humane Society.
Jo Denly co-owned the sheep with Reed-Buyers. They met last summer at a mentorship sheep farming field course.
The two became friends – Denly not knowing of Reed-Buyers’s past animal cruelty investigation – and decided to go into the sheep business together in August. Since Denly didn’t have a farm, Reed-Buyers offered her place off Highway 7 near Norwood.
They bought 36 sheep and Denly purchased two dogs to watch over them, alongside Reed-Buyers’s own two dogs.
Denly, a Douro resident, stopped by the farm nearly every day to check on the animals and feed them.
She said Reed-Buyers appeared to be feeding the other animals on the property.
It wasn’t long before ReedBuyers started asking for more money and became evasive when asked questions.
“I started to realize she wasn’t telling me the truth about things,” Denly said.
By then it was November and Denly had learned of Reed-Buyers’s past (she made headlines in 2016 while she was under investigation).
So Denly told Reed-Buyers she wanted out of the partnership and wanted half the sheep and her two dogs back.
Reed-Buyers told her no livestock would be leaving and she’d have Denly charged with trespassing if she came on property, Denly said.
Denly contacted the OSPCA and Peterborough County OPP and was accompanied by an OPP officer when she went to the farm to get her dogs.
Reed-Buyers gave up one dog willingly but refused to hand over the other - Denly holds proof of ownership.
Not knowing what else to do, Denly continued to contact the OSPCA and OPP saying she feared for the animals’ welfare. Since she’d been buying all the food for the sheep and dogs, she didn’t know if they’d continue to be fed. She also wanted Reed-Buyers charged with theft, since she had proof of sale for the sheep.
Although Denly said the OSPCA never responded her messages, the OPP advised her to sue civilly for amount the animals cost.
But she didn’t want to spend years in court – she wanted the animals out of there and in good hands. “I wanted to know that they’re safe.”
Denly said she was relieved to find out the animals were seized. “My first reaction was, thank God the animals are out of her care.”
She then contacted the organization to ask if she can get her animals back. She’s willing to take Reed-Buyers’s dogs too and found a place for the sheep at a farm in Millbrook. But she said she still hasn’t heard back.
The OSPCA could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Denly also pointed out that 14 sheep weren’t accounted for, which means they were either sold beforehand or died.
Denly hopes Reed-Buyers is found guilty and gets a lifetime ban on owning animals. She also hopes people learn Reed-Buyers name, so no one has to go through what she did. “So people don’t get dupped like I did.”
Reed-Buyers is scheduled to appear in Peterborough Provincial Offences Court on Aug. 16.
jessica.nyznik @peterboroughdaily.com