Info From More People Abused or Witnessed Abuse by Sleepy Hollow

We have been telling area folks for a long while now that Schak and Patt are small time horse dealers and were only re-selling horses instead of "rescuing them." Here is another letter form someone who witnessed them in action.

Would a real rescue just shoot a horse if they could not find them a home? Why didn't they just send them to another rescue instead of starving them first before allowing someone to get the shipper there? And why wasn't the shipper allowed to come on the farm I wonder? Think it had anything to do with the conditions at the farm?

The photos on this site should show why Schak should be embarassed and ashamed for anyone to come near her sapossed "horse farm..."

Sincerely,

Margo

Webmaster

PS What Schak and Patt did to me is in the right hand column of this page.

Updated 10/03/05 I dealt with [Sleepy Hollow Horse Rescue] and have a horse from there and dealt mostly with Kathy Patt once March of 2002. They had purchased a black Arabian stallion for $450.00 from an auction. They then tried to sell him on the Internet for $5,000. When this didn't work they threaten to kill the stallion, so needless to say we bought him, as no one else would. The rescue posted about the stallion, Precious Heritage, on one of the Arabian lists, Arabianbreeders chat room I think. I was on 3 lists [at the time]. They also posted on equine sales sites. I sat back and watched the emails for about a month. I think they sent out one email offering him for sale and how they got him and how much they where selling him for. When people got upset about a horse rescue doing what they where doing with the threat was made on the list, I then called them. Kathy Patt then told me in person, that if he weren’t sold for the $5,000 then they would just shoot him, as he was better to be dead for him then back at the auction for slaughter. So if they shot him or if they took him back either way he would be dead. Now this really ticked me off. I have been doing horse rescue for 12 years, with my own personal money, and I don't care if I go in and pay 10,000 for a horse that might die in 24 hours or less. I know they will know love me while with me, but for a rescue to do such a thing was just beyond what I can put into words. So we bought him on the last day. Then after we bought him we had problems finding a hauler to go up there. The rescue called him and met him on the road somewhere, as they would not let the driver go to the rescue. But before I could find a hauler I trusted to get the stallion a man called me for Patt. The hauler told me that if the horse wasn't removed, and if I didn't pay an extra $700 for board, they would just shoot the horse. They didn't care. I paid to get the horse I already paid for. And we had given strict instructions that the stallion was to not be with any mares at all while boarded there, they agreed. Well the stallion came to us a rack of bones and I found out a year later he was not kept separate, but was in with several mares breeding them before he could be picked up. The following summer I got a letter in the mail stating that another woman needed me to register a foal sired by my stallion. It was a woman who bought an Arabian mare from Patt. She was upset because she paid like $1,500 for the mare with a guarantee the mare was in foal and that the foal would be registered. That woman’s mare came from the same people that my stallion came from, a man in his 80's or so Patt had said. They had found my stallion at the auction along with two mares then tracked down the owner who had another like 12 horses that Patt got from him for a lousy $300.00 each so she said. She told the original owner that they were “placing” them for him. Once I got the stallion I never heard from Patt or Schak or anyone at the rescue again. If it wasn't for the fact that when I signed on as owner was the date of the auction Patt could have registered foals with out my knowledge. I would suppose some owner of the mares that the stallion bred probably don't even know that they are pure bred or anything, so do tell people that I have him now. I had talked mostly to Patt at the rescue while dealing with this situation. THANK GOD [your group helped to] finally closed them down. I was shocked and upset about the rescue and was telling every one I knew about them at the time, but people don't always listen. And these people are the reason why I started my own horse rescue. Lona Frontier Ranch Equine Rescue *************

Updated 7/27/05

Hello my name is Danielle and I belong to the Mounted Explorer Post in Gresham, Oregon.

In early 2003 our post donated 2 of our ponies to Sleepy Hollow. One of our ponies was going blind and we could not keep her at the property in a herd environment any more. And the other was very sway back and could not be ridden anymore.

They (Sleepy Hollow Horse rescue people) were very nice to us and our advisor, but a month a later when me and a friend went to see our ponies in Spokane only Foxy the sway back pony was there. We were very upset because they had told us that they were a rescue group and the ponies would never leave Sleepy Hollow.

Then when we saw Foxy she had lost a tremendous amount of weight. She still looked very healthy because she was (on the) fat (side), but she had lost a lot of weight in only a month. We also saw the other horses and animals they had. We thought that they had to many animals for such a small place.

I just wanted to let you know our experience with them was not a good one and we did not know what a bad place it was. The post wishes we never donated them at all.

Sincerely,

Danielle

Link to our web site:

http://www.post686-mountedexplorers.org/

Updated 5/22/05

The horse in this picture which I got off of your web site (and cried many tears after seeing what she was living in) is Asia. In May of 2004 I was called by Walla Walla County dispatch to assist a deputy in an animal call. I was a student at Walla Walla Community College inthe farrier program. I reached the site and what I saw about made me sick to my stomach. There was a little horse starving, her feet in desperate need of care, no water to be found and when we brushed to top layer of what food she had we found mold. I agreed with the deputy that she heeded to be removed.

I went to get my friend, Sheri, to help me, she was also in the farrier class.
I had my digital camera with me and told Sheri to look at the pix. When she saw them she grabbed her hack saw tools and we were off.

We worked on Asia (then we thought her name was Sierra) from 9:00 pm until after midnight just getting her front feet down to the point where they wouldn't catch on morning glory growing in her field and trip her she was so weak from lack of care.

In a HUGE group effort we had Asia on a road to recovery. She was walking without a limp, playing with my gelding, trotting almost normal, and she could finally lope freely although still limping slightly she would get her excersise on her own. She was seriously underweight, but not as bad as shown in the
picture as seen on this web site.

Sheri and I had spoken with Sleepy Hollow Horse Slaughter a few times before we placed Asia there (I was convinced at the time they were a true rescue oganization having a vet on the board and all) and now in hindsight I will forever be heartbroken knowing Asia's eventual fate.

My husband was in Airborne training and informed that he would be stationed at Ft Bragg, knowing that the almost 3,000 mile trip would more than likely kill
Asia I decided to place her in a rescue organization instead of burdening one person with her long list of vet needs.

I left Washington state in September 2004, and hadn't even made it to Nebraska when I heard rumers that SHHR fed Asia to lions at the Cat Tails, a large cat preservatory in North Spokane Washington. I couldn't believe it so I e-mailed them
they were vague with their response until May 16, 2005

Asia was a 24 year old registered Morgan horse. I loved her with every breath I took she was so full of life. I had told my daughter that Asia was hers and she would live happy with a new home. How do I tell her now that Asia was
fed to big cats?

My name and address can be put on any website alongwith my story and any correspondence I have with you as long as it is there to stop the slaughter of these beloved animals and to stop unsuspecting people as myself from relinquishing their horses to these villians.

Sincerely,

Amy Bumpaous
30 West Tryon Court
Spring Lake, NC 28390
910-497-5888

(Please contact me directly if you wish to confirm this story about SHH Slaughter.)

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Updated 5/4/05

Sent via email to me and given permission for me to post on this site. Testimony from Heather Bracken-Romig.

My family and I had visited Sleepy Hollow last December ('04) and I was so horrified at what I saw. My heart just sank for those animals there. I have a deep love and appreciation for all animals, especially horses, so to see them in the conditions they were was depressing. I was wishing I had had enough money
to take all of them out of there and put them somewhere safe where they could be happy and properly taken care of.

Luckily, I had taken my camera and was able to photograph some of the terrible surroundings of this "rescue" facility. I have blurred the faces purposefully, my friends did not authorize the release of their photos. In one of the photos, I also encircled an area... that dark image on the road leading to the house is the
carcass of a sheep. God only knows how long it had been there. All that was left was the skull, and a blood and dirt
covered woolly skin. I wanted to puke. In the photo of my friend, the red horse trailer behind him held a beautiful, yet starving, scared female Great Pyrenees dog. Another male Pyrenees cowered and trembled in a small enclosure near the chicken shack.

My friend had been there previously and
told us he had to help pull a dead horse out of a stall. He said it had been there for several days already. Other horses we saw were extremely malnourished and a few appeared ill (coughing and green mucus dripping from the nostrils).

There was no fresh water anywhere on the property for ANY of the animals. The food for the dogs, what little was there was molded. The hay for the horses wasn't fit either. It was sitting totally exposed to the elements and full of that dusty mold. There was very little of it as well, and we were told that was all there was to last them the rest of the winter.

About 4-5 bales for about 20 horses until April or May of the coming year (2005). The amount of acreage the horses occupied wasn't adequate either. Maybe 10-15 acres
for all 20. I thought, ideally, each horse was supposed to have between 2 and 5 acres. Not even close! The ground they did have, most of it was frozen solid, and what wasn't frozen was covered in feces deep enough to reach the horses knees.

Needless to say, I was so appalled at what I saw there, my husband and I came home, waited a few days and started calling places to find out what could be done. We contacted the ASPCA in New York to find out if there was an organization here, we were told there wasn't and to contact the local authorities. So, we did!

My husband called and got blown off. The officer he spoke with said that he had just been out there to inspect the place and he didn't see anything wrong! Can you believe that?!?!?! We didn't know what else to do.

I'm so glad you have taken action against this group. They should be shut down, rather, they should have been shut down last year! But better late than never. THANK YOU!

If I can be of any assistance please let me know.
Heather

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Asia, my beloved horse turned into SHHR

See my testimony on the left side column dated 5/22/05.

Updated 6-18-06

From Margo Mossburg, I programmed this site:

Sarah Schak also puppy mill dog breeds Dachshunds, wiener dogs, called Sleepy Hollow Dachshunds at that "rescue" farm as well. I have rescued now SIX of her unsocialized, scared and unhappy dogs in to my dog rescue needing new homes.

I run Dachshund Rescue NW and we have rescued 300+ dogs since 1991. All those rescued puppy mill dogs from Sleepy Hollow took months of intense training to finally make them happy, adoptable dogs again and then have them placed with their new families. I am also counselling four other families who were unfortunate enough to get one of Schak's dogs. They all have behavior problems and still need tons of work to be beloved and safe, family pets because of improper care and not being socialized as pups with neglect and abuse.

UPDATE: And one more of her dogs was given to the country shelter here in the Spring of 2006 as being "crazy" and untrainable too. I have to assume it was put down as if they show anything but being happy dogs SCRAPS will put them down and not even tell a rescue the dog was there. The shelter never called us, but we have volunteers in all area shelters who let us know when any Dachshund comes in to the shelters in this area. Those volunteers know that we try to save as many "crazy" ones as we can before they are killed. We specialize in re-training the dogs that no one wants and STILL find them homes.

I have also gotten in training two of Schak's wild "rescued" horses that were "adopted" to two families who never should of been able to take the horses off the farm for many reasons. Both horses were very unsuited for the families that got them from the rescue. I could not re-train either horse as they had major problems one of which was dangerous and should of been put down.

I have been training horses for over 35 years and was born on a large horse ranch so I do not say that lightly about a horse being put down. That mare scares her owner often and she tried to kill me too. I have worked many horses since a kid and I got that horse off my farm right away she was that dangerous to me and my other horses as well as her owner.

That horse never should of been "adopted' to that gal who was a former "employee" of Sleepy Hollow. According to Schak's nonprofit status filing Schak was not allowed to have any employees working for her yet many past people were out doing the job she was sapossed to do animal care and training. But the fake charity is now closed and they yanked Schak's nonprofit status as well. And they know to never let her be a charity ever again if she tries to file agian in this state.

I have many bad business dealings too with Sleepy Hollow Horse Rescue, Kathy Patt and Sarah Schak. Here are some of the highlights:

1. They STILL owe me a board and hoof trimming bill from taking on one of their rescues since Octobner of 2003. I have receipts so I can prove what I am saying there.

2. Both Patt and Schak know I worked with law enforcement to close them down so they are trying to close me down by contacting customers or anyone they can on chat rooms, etc. and spreading vicious rumors about me. I say when dealing with people do your research first. Their fake horse rescue is now closed forever and the "president" has an animal cruelty conviction. My husband works in law enforcement and I rescue rotten wiener dogs and breed some horses. I will be here for years as I have been for 42 years in horses and since 1991 in dog rescuing no matter what is said about me. My actions speak louder than their slanderous words and we adopted out 47 needy wieners in 2005.

3. Schak and.or Patt harassed my sister's children's charity in Oregon too just because I was starting a new fundraiser for them and decided to include Sleepy Hollow then. That other charity has been operating since 1994 and has a reached over 12,000 children in their farm charity. I guess Schak and Patt thought they deserve to be closed down too because my sister is a relative and is Executive Director. And I always help my sister with donations of horse trailers, cash or horses or whatever they need to reach children and teach them about farm life. It was truly amazing that harassment of me extended even to my family members too whom Schak or Patt have never met or never will meet. That is how deep goes the hate towards me telling everyone just who these people are and to avoid them at all costs.

4. I was starting a similar farm charity in Spokane as my sister's charity, but after such harassment and slander while Schak andPatt contacting my customers (I was stupid enough to list them on my business web sites then) that I decided against it while dealing with Schak and Patt and their venom since 2003. It was very tiring and annoying dealing with people like that all because I decided to not do business with them once I saw how they treated their animals. And all they knew was I was not doing business with no reasons given and then the harassment started. All because I decided to not have them on that fundraiser. So Schak called all the customers of mine to get people to pull out of the event. It worked they kileld that fundraiser forever as I will never do another one here again where people have access to all exhibitors in advance. I learned my lesson the hard way by having my personal and professional reputation tarnished to a degree, yet here we are still in business and they are not. That speaks volumes in my opinion.

5. I have personally witnessed Schak at the Davenport Horse Auction walk by slaughter horses to grill people about the training their horse had received when they were entered in the horse auction. Then they bought that horse at auction and then some fake story would show up on their "rescue" web site about that horse and it's "hard life." This was done over and over for years and they were just small-time horse dealers, not rescuers.

5. And why wasn't anyone on site training their horses on a regular basis before having the horses leave the farm? Numerous past employees and volunteers have told me that NO ONE was out training horses except an occasional volunteer and Schak rarely even fed her own animals. So why would Schak not want to work with a horse trainer like me for free? It made no sense after asking her to bring a horse over to my farm for a couple of months as Schak said she needed help when I met her in Sept. 2003. I agreed to help her and her charity then hence a new fundraiser I was starting. Schak finally wanted me to work horses for her. I agreed for to train for free as long as Schak fed them while at my farm. No money or hay arrived for six weeks after bringing over a mre and I saw right away that this gal was dishonest once I saw her previous farm and the disgusting conditions in Spokane in the Fall of 2003. Then they moved to Creston and the conditions just got worse as you see from photos here on this site. The farm in Creston was shocking as I have seen it in person. No one should live there much less an animal.

6. Schak was/is always removing my business flyers from bulletin boards in front of witnesses including myself at two locations that I know of. I have seen it and friends have seen it as well at one place of business where I live. How is that for professional and mature folks?

7. The intense harassment was so bad that I was forced to call the police and file reports to get Schak to leave me, my business, my friends and my life alone. I have copies of all those reports for any if they want to see them sometime.

8. I have not sued either Patt or Schak for slander yet as I have a life, but I have built quite a large case of documented harassment for years now. The more they harass me especially on paper and in public then the more my lawyer friends wants to sue them. I have told both Schak and Patt I will not be removing this site any time soon as people have to know how they do business and in case they try to start another fake "rescue" in this area. If they leave me alone then I will just maintian this site and they can maintian Patt's site against me. It is called "freedom of speech" for a reason, but harassment that is ongoing is something judges and police frown on. The more they publically harass me like in chat rooms and I have copies of all that as well the larger a lawsuit I am building. But I prefer to not hire any lawyer if these two people, I use that term loosely here, should decide to leave me alone. I have a happy life so why sue UNLESS they force me to. I have a life helping others. They obviously do not.

9. Schak had contacted me April 2006 and wanted me to try and harass Kathy Patt at her job as Patt harassed me at mine in the past by contacting customers or business associates. I have those emails on file still. I told Schak that if they wanted to play games with each other as they were no longer friends then to leave me out of it and NEVER contact me again. I am too busy these people and their mental problems and vindictiveness. I did not hear from Schak again thank goodness and Patt likes playing games online now in chat rooms so I continue to ignore her and her antics as well I did however receive copies of emails sent to the county animal shelter by Patt reporting me with more lies yet again. Interesting reading to say the least so thanks to Schak for that betrayal of a past friend who seems to want to bring Schak down even farther than what she is with a police record now showing animal abuse.

There is much, much more I could go into like them ruining and trying to steal a legit donation of two horses that I had gotten for my sister's children's charity in Oregon because Schak wanted those horses for her rescue instead. I guess she thought she could sell them quick as they were trained already and saw dollar signs when she went to my customer's farm and lied about me to get them to pull that donation. It worked and the donation was pulled from my sister's 501(c)(3), but neither did they give them to Schak too so that was a small blessing they saw right through her. It took me a bit longer, but eventually so did I and now many others too.

But you get the idea here that I am warning everyone in the strongest possible terms are not even close to being nice, caring, trustworthy or honest in any way. So I still caution anyone in the strongest terms from doing any business with Kathy Patt, Jeff and Sarah Schak or the almost closed Sleepy Hollow Horse rescue or Sleepy Hollow Dachshunds. (Now doing business as Pinehollow Dachshunds in Creston, WA.) They all have some major problems personally and professionally and please steer clear unless you annoy them too so they can justify trying to ruin your life as well when you see or see something that you do not like or disagree with them in any way.

Sincerely,

Margo Mossburg

Dragoon Morgans & Studios

Director, Dachshund Rescue NW since 1991 and Dachshund Club of Spokane

dragoonfr @ hotmail.com

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Updated 4/18/05

Here is another person's story after adopting three horses from Sleepy Hollow Horse Rescue. Thank you for allowing us to post your info on this site.

From Stephanie Alldridge-Monk in Nevada:

Spring of last year I drove up from Las Vegas NV to Yakima WA to adopt 3 colts. One was rescued from abuse and starvation, one was a PMU foal, and the other one was dropped off at a feed lot.....SUPPOSEDLY. Sarah did not
want us to meet her at the residence where the rescue was, instead, we were supposed to meet her at a foster home (I will not name who the foster person is) where one of the PMU babies were.

We arrive there and 2 of the colts are in Sarah's stock trailer, we load them up and go out to catch the PMU foal and load him up, after everyone is loaded in my horse trailer(Sarah spanked the horses with a whip to get them to go from her trailer to mine.)

I commented on how hungry and thirsty the 2 colts that were in Sarah's trailer were. The foster care "mom" then proceeded to tell me that Sarah loaded those colts up 2
DAYS prior to us meeting her and that Sarah told her that she "FORGOT" to feed and water the colts in her horse trailer.....FOR 2 DAYS!!!!

I also learn that the gray colt was Sarah's personal horse. He was emaciated, wormy, and in bad need of foot care, we did not know if he would make the trip back to Las Vegas or not (which, he did).

Sarah had mentioned that there was paperwork on the gray colt, she said she'd get me the paperwork on him along with all 3 colts bill of sale. We waited 4 MONTHS for a bill of sale or adoption papers on all 3 colts and finally got them after threatening her with calling the local sheriff in her area and bringing all 3 colts back and charging her for travel, board, feed, etc.

To this day I still don't have legal documents on the gray colt, so I do not know if he is stolen or what. I'm still emailing and calling Sarah (Schak) and asking for his registration papers. My companions that came with me on that trip and I were NOT impressed with the way that Sarah ran a business, handled clients, and most important of all, handled those animals.

Please give me updates on if Sarah actually gets convicted of animal abuse and neglect. There are 3 colt owners in the Las Vegas area that want to see her punished.

When we have the photos of these horses they will be posted on this page.

Please contact us at dragoonfr @ hotmail.com (delete the spaces to get my email address) if you would like us to post your story here too or if you just let us know what happened to you because of Schak, Patt and Sleepy Hollow Fake Horse Rescue. The more people who come forward the sooner we can stop these people abusing other people and their animals. Thank you.

Home page, click here

Testimonials of more bad business dealings/animal abuse at the "rescue"

Photos, page 1, click here

Photos, page 2, click here

Photos, page 3, click here