Ten dead horses were exhumed on a Stouffville farm Saturday, two weeks after the property owner discovered three other decomposed carcasses, as well as 14 horses and a pony living in sordid stalls, all of them sickly thin.

The animals were under the care of David Lee Small, Victoria Small and Jason Leroy Small, who had been renting the barnyard and farmland since September, said landlord Michael Cheung.

The Small family operates a company called Speedsport Stables. Jason Leroy Small told the Star his family’s company aims to rescue abandoned horses and privately find new homes for them.

Cheung made the gruesome discovery of three dead horses in varying stages of decomposition shortly after he evicted the Smalls on April 22. He and his neighbours found a rotting carcass in an aluminum trailer on the property, and two others at the back of a paddock under some trees.

On Saturday, Cheung hired a company to excavate what turned out to be a graveyard of horses, buried in a mound of dirt in the middle of a paddock not far from the barnyard. A small excavator dug through the pile, and another truck was on site to load the carcasses.

The first horse to be exhumed was a baby, followed by seven adults. Two more horses were found in a heap of manure by the barnyard.

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“In total, it was 13. That’s a massacre. It’s not neglect,” said Cheung. “It was horrifying … Looking at those bodies, in pieces, it’s horrible. It’s inhumane.”

On Friday, the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA) charged the Smalls with permitting an animal to be in distress, failing to provide adequate food and failing to provide care necessary for general welfare. They are due to appear in court in Newmarket on July 6.

These charges were laid after Cheung discovered 14 emaciated horses and one pony living in the barn. The animals have since received treatment from a veterinarian and have all been given new homes with the help of Cheung’s neighbours.

The OSPCA alleged the Small family committed the offences between April 1 and April 22. If convicted, they face a maximum penalty of two years in jail, a $60,000 fine, or both.

“If new evidence reveals additional charges are warranted, we will follow up accordingly,” OSPCA spokesperson Melissa Kosowan said in an email, noting the organization was aware of the deceased horses on the property.

In an interview with the Star on Friday, Jason Leroy Small claimed the “shallow graves” were in the paddocks by the time his family arrived at the property. He said he also did not know about the decomposed carcasses.

Saturday’s excavation took about six hours. Louise Leifer, a neighbour, said she was in tears while the horses were being dug up.

“It would have broken your heart,” she said. “These bodies weren’t even that old.”

She said “the smell was awful” during the excavation, adding that what emerged was mostly bones and halters.

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Cheung said he faces a long ordeal in cleaning and restoring his property. He hopes to lease out the barn again, but said the disturbing experience makes him wary of putting his faith in new tenants to protect their animals. Cheung said he plans to include regular inspections in his lease contracts from now on.

“With this incident, obviously that trust broke. So the next time around, you would take precautions to make sure that doesn’t happen,” he said of the horses.

“They can’t talk,” Cheung said. “They had a life, too.”