BOGGS TWP, Armstrong County — Mark Brletrick said horse rescue owner Pam Vivirito’s tactics did not work with his elderly father-in-law when two horses and seven ponies were taken from his property, however Vivirito said state police made the decision to seize the animals.

Brletrick said that Vivirito, owner of Equine Angels Rescue in Cabot, recommended state police take the animals because she claimed they were starved and the two horses were severely malnourished.

Like others whose horses have been taken and placed at Equine Angels Rescue, Brletrick alleged Vivirito tried to intimidate his father-in-law, Michael Johns, into signing over ownership of the horses to her facility by saying he would face criminal charges and that she would alert the media to the horses’ plight.

“She uses scare tactics,” Brletrick said. “He just told her he didn’t care. He’s old school. This is his property.”

Johns was issued 10 citations for animal cruelty and was found guilty by a district judge on two of them, and not guilty on eight others.

He was fined $300 on each of the two citations.

Brletrick said the two horses were thin because he and his wife had bought them four months earlier to rehabilitate them, and all seven ponies — which were gifts to Johns’ grandchildren — were in good shape.

The Johns family appealed the seizure of the animals and an Armstrong County judge ordered the return of the horses.

Brletrick said the appeal was filed on Feb. 8 and the animals returned on June 28.

When the family went to retrieve the horses, they discovered Vivirito had gelded a male pony and sold two others to a man in Zelienople.

“This is not a rescue by any means,” Brletrick said of Equine Angels. “This is her job. She’s making money.”

The family, armed with the court order, towed their horse trailer to Zelienople to pick up the ponies that had been sold there. He did not pay the man for the animals.

“He was pretty upset,” Brletrick said.

Regarding the ponies’ condition, Brletrick claimed they were in worse shape after their return.

“Their ribs were showing,” Brletrick alleged.

He said Vivirito claimed to the district judge that she had the ponies’ hooves trimmed and dental work done while they were in her care, but Brletrick claims the animals’ hooves and teeth were untouched upon their return.

Vivirito was incredulous at Brletrick’s claims. She said the state police seized the animals and brought them to her rescue facility.

She claimed the ponies were in passable shape because the Johns’ fence was down and they had been grazing on a neighbor’s property.

But she said none of the animals had available shelter. She alleged some had “rain rot” from being outside, and one of the two horses almost died three times while at her facility.

She doubted Brletrick’s explanation for the horses’ emaciated condition.

“If I had a nickel for everyone who said they bought a starved horse and were rescuing them, I’d be rich,” Vivirito said.

She said the state police took the ponies because the animals had no shelter. While Brletrick claimed Vivirito rounded the ponies up so the state police could load them onto her horse trailer, Vivirito claims she has never been on the Johns’ property.

State police were unavailable for comment on Friday.

Vivirito said the reason the animals were returned is that the trooper involved in the case was not notified of the hearing at the district judge’s office and was not there to testify. She said the judge made his ruling because of the default.

Vivirito said the judge’s order also included permission for her to charge the Johns family $21,000 for expenses she incurred in taking on the animals.

“So we are going to do that,” Vivirito said.

She also snorted at Brletrick’s claim that she takes horses to sell them and make a profit for herself or her rescue facility.

“I have million-dollar thoroughbreds that come here from the racetrack (that are rehabilitated and sold),” Vivirito said, “so I do not need to go looking for emaciated horses to make money on.”

Vivirito is being sued by a group of five individuals whose horses were seized and taken to her rescue facility in the past few years. The group alleges Equine Angels and Vivirito maliciously took their horses and harmed their reputations to get publicity and to generate donations.

The lawsuit in Butler County Court asks the court to return the horses to the plaintiffs.

In addition, Butler County District Attorney Rich Goldinger has dropped cruelty charges filed against two horse owners whose animals had been seized and taken to Equine Angels. He also is in the process of forming a committee on how to handle neglect and cruelty to animals cases in the future since so many have been filed recently.

Vivirito said earlier this month that it appears Butler County residents would rather see horses being starved than charge their owners as they deserve.

“All these people keep attacking us, and I tell them to come to the barn,” Vivirito said. “I don’t need this crap. This is not what I set out to do.”

Vivirito said she has 10 state-seized horses among the 50 rescued horses in her barn.