Florida: Horse rescuer Deanna Biscardi, 43, arrested after starving her horses

FLORIDA -- A woman who allegedly kept her eight horses underfed and ill-cared for was arrested Friday on eight counts of animal cruelty.

Deanna Biscardi (aka Deanna Biscardi Haviland, Deanna Alma Biscardi), 43, of Lori Loop Road, was booked into the Clay County Jail and is being held on a $20,024 bond, $2,503 for each count of animal cruelty, according to an arrest report from the Clay County Sheriff's Office.

Deanna Biscardi, 43, 

Biscardi ran a horse rescue called Second Chance Horse Rescue located in Wimauma.

According to the affidavit for the arrest warrant, Biscardi showed a deputy that "the feed she had available for the horses in her shed and it did not appear to be sufficient for the horses on the property."

  

Two of the eight horses were repossessed earlier this month by the original owner for non-payment, the arrest warrant said. The horses that were back in the care of the original owner "had noticeable weight gain and food available."

A doctor told the deputy the horses inability to gain weight is due to the fact that they are "not being fed properly or not being treated properly for sand or a combination of both and is neglect on the part of" Biscardi.

 

The affidavit stated that the horses were in the same condition when they were checked in October 2013.

The other six horses were taken to Clay County Animal Control's Green Cove Springs facility, where the staff will attempt to return them to normal weight.

Biscardi also was arrested in 2010 in Tampa on a Clay County grand theft warrant in the disappearance of $7,000 from the now-defunct Oakleaf Athletic Association, according to that arrest report. She was slated to become the association’s treasurer at the time and had been given access to its baseball, football and association bank accounts to write checks. But when the association checked the accounts’ balances in late March 2010, it was missing money, according to her arrest report. It is unclear what came of the case.

Posts on the Horse Plus Humane Society’s Facebook page show a Deanna Biscardi Haviland commenting in 2013 on euthanasia not being a humane solution for unwanted horses.

“We run a rescue here in Florida and we accept all horses no matter their condition,” the post reads. “Every horse deserves to have a safe haven. We have had ‘owners’ relinquish their horse to us and we have given that horse a loving safe forever home. ... The other option is if you can’t afford a horse, then don’t get one.”

(First Coast News - Mar 21, 2014)