TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – Two people are behind bars and charged in one of the largest horse abuse cases in Florida history in Marion County — known as the horse capital of the world.
The Marion County Sheriff’s Office released a statement Monday saying that the owners of Happy Valley Horse Rescue in Ocala, Janine Chaux and David Palacio, are charged with 22 counts of aggravated animal cruelty and 16 counts of animal cruelty.
Janine Chaux and David Palacio’s mugshots.(Marion County Sheriff’s Office)
On Nov. 4 of 2025, Detective Craig McClaskey and agriculture investigator Justin McClure went to Happy Valley Horse Rescue to investigate after an anonymous complaint was filed about neglected horses.
At the property, they discovered 54 horses described in the arrest report as “underweight, with bony structures visible, hooves in deplorable condition, and some appearing to be in pain while walking. The stalls in the barn had not been cleared of excrement and soiled bedding for an extended period of time.”
On Nov. 5 and 6, MCSO executed a search and seizure warrant at Happy Valley Horse Rescue for a total of 69 horses.
Local horse rescues and nonprofits immediately stepped in to ensure the horses who endured horrific abuse get a future they deserve.(Ava Van Valen/WCTV)
While at the location, an additional 17 neglected horses were discovered on the neighboring property. These horses were also in the care of Chaux. Two of the horses were in such poor condition that they had to be euthanised.
Local horse rescues and nonprofits immediately stepped in to ensure the horses who endured horrific abuse get a future they deserve.
As soon as Roxanne Spear, the president of the Rainbow’s Edge Equine Transition Center in Greenville, was notified about the case, she jumped into action.
“One thing we wanted to make sure is they knew these horses, we would help them in any way, network them in every way we could, to make sure they did not end up at the auction house. That’s a lot of horses for any county to have to deal with. And we wanted them to know that there is help. And a lot of people would come together to help them,” Spear said.
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And help them they did. Rescues from central, south, north Florida as well as from Mississippi, along with the Humane World for Animals, stepped up.
“We got a call from Rainbow’s Edge, which is a horse rescue group here in North Florida, that they were helping Marion County with a large-scale equine cruelty case. They wanted to help by taking at least 10 stallions. In order to do that, those stallions needed to get vet care, and they needed to get gelded,” Laura Bevan, the southwest regional director for Humane World for Animals, said. “So, we assisted by providing the resources, the financial resources, for the large vet clinic in Tallahassee to take the stallions in to geld them, to provide all the vet care they need right now, so that they can be ready to go to rescue.”
To take care of those nine horses for a little over a week was about $15,000, and there are many other expenses associated with ensuring that these abused and traumatized horses are cared for and eventually re-homed.
“Rainbow’s Edge had to put up the barn that I’m standing in. They had to put out money for all the fencing that you see behind me. This is not a cheap effort to try and, you know, take on these horses. And they took on 14,” Bevan said.
While the rescue was a huge undertaking, equine advocates say the alternative was unthinkable.
“We do not want them ending up on slaughter trucks. And lots of times, that’s where horses from a case like this would end up, going to Mexico or Canada for slaughter. And as soon as we told the sheriff’s department why we were calling, and we did not want to see them going in that direction, they absolutely agreed they did not want that either. So this way they have an opportunity for their lives to turn around and have great lives.”
Another nonprofit working tirelessly to help is Triple-R Horse Rescue in Tallahassee.
“Every day, we’re out there with our boots on the ground, feeding, providing veterinary care, whatever it takes to get these equines healthy, hopefully adopted, those that can be adopted. And we give our lives to this mission.”
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