Stephanie Redlick, founder of Above the Stars Equine Rescue, faces 13 animal neglect charges after 16 horses were seized in February 2025, including $116K vet bills she denies paying. CRA revoked her charity status, and she’s accused of fraud ($26K+) and theft ($5K+), including selling John Dobson’s cattle for $60K despite promises to care for them. Documented neglect—starvation, untreated wounds, freezing barns—contradicts her claims of rescuing 1,500 horses while living in a modest apartment. Critics expose systemic failures allowing her to keep acquiring animals despite a history of cruelty and fraud, proving Toronto’s equine community needs urgent protection. [Automatically generated summary]
Tonight, I have a disturbing tale about horses that need to be rescued from a so-called horse rescuer.
It's Friday, January 23rd, 2026.
I'm David Menzies, and this is the Ezra Levant Show.
Shame on you, you censorious bug.
Cruelty is equal parts disturbing, gross, and downright maddening.
Yet, tragically, animal cruelty remains a blight on society.
This is not news, of course, but the story I'm about to present is a bizarre saga of a woman who promotes herself as a rescuer of horses.
She wants to be seen as someone who cares deeply about abused horses.
She wants you to know she devotes her life to saving these majestic animals.
However, the facts of the matter paint a completely different story.
Horses in her care tend to exist in miserable conditions.
They get sick, they starve, they suffer from dehydration, they die.
The irony is perverse given that the horses in her care need to be rescued from the so-called rescuer.
Meet Toronto resident Stephanie Redlick.
She is now a notorious figure in Ontario's equine community.
If a horse owner sees Redlick anywhere near their farm, the advice is to call the cops.
Not surprisingly, Redlick is known to police, as the saying goes.
That's never a good sign.
Redlick runs a operation called Above the Stars Equine Rescue.
She once claimed that Above the Stars was a charity recognized by the Canada Revenue Agency.
She even provided a registration number.
Just one hitch, the CRA has no record of such a charity.
As for that 15-digit long registration number, it is completely bogus.
That was the first red flag to emerge when I began looking into the disturbing case of Stephanie Redlick.
And the more I dug, I ended up coming across more red flags than one would find at a matador convention.
First and foremost, she claims to have rescued some 1,500 horses.
1,500?
That's an astonishing number.
Just think of the money that would be needed to care for 1,500 horses in terms of feed, vet costs, horseshoes, etc.
But Redlick apparently has very little money.
She doesn't own a farm, but lives in a modest apartment in North Toronto.
She typically rents plots of land in rural Ontario, until that is the landlord evicts her.
Now, why would that be?
Well, Redlick allegedly has this very bad habit of not paying the rent when it's due.
As for the animals in her care, oh, those poor horses.
In the last few weeks, I have spoken to many people in the equine community.
This includes Marie Bennett, who runs a website called banhorslaughter.com.
Bennett has extensively chronicled the escapades of Stephanie Redlick.
It's almost turned into a full-time job for Bennett.
Should you visit banhorslaughter.com, you will happen upon a treasure trove of evidence pertaining to Redlick's behavior.
None of it is good.
The evidence includes numerous disturbing photographs portraying horses that were under the stewardship of Redlick.
Typically, the conditions the horses are kept in are beyond appalling.
This includes freezing cold barns filled with ankle-deep manure.
Often, there's no feed for the horses to eat.
Buckets contain ice rather than water.
It's also been documented that Redlick's horses left outside were forced to eat poor quality, moldy hay.
Horses were also observed picking through their own waste in a desperate attempt to find something to eat.
Horses in Redlick's care are often severely dehydrated and dangerously thin.
Many horses sport numerous sores and untreated wounds.
It's sick.
I also reached out to Donna Power, who heads up an organization called Humane Initiative.
Power also has nothing positive to say about Stephanie Redlick, and she confirms that the information Bennett has amassed on her Ban Horse Slaughter website is accurate.
As for her part, Redlick will tell you that she receives horses in a dilapidated condition in the first place, so their poor health isn't her fault, you see.
But even if that's really the case, why doesn't she enlist vets to attend to these poor animals?
And when she does hire a vet, why does she allegedly seldom pay her vet bills?
Furthermore, even when Redlick receives a horse that is completely healthy, this is no guarantee the horse is going to live happily ever after.
Case in point, the tragic case of former racehorse Seattle Sunrise.
Sources tell me that Redlick acquired ownership of Seattle Sunrise in November of 2024.
The horse was said to be in pristine condition.
Three months later, Seattle Sunrise was skin and bones.
When Crystal Mitchell acquired Seattle Sunrise and three other horses from Redlick, Crystal paid thousands in vet fees to save his life.
It was all for naught as this once mighty thoroughbred perished, apparently due to wanton neglect.
And check out this photograph of a newborn foal left in the care of Stephanie Redlick.
This foal was left in a cold and drafty ramshackle barn.
Unable to stand, the foal could not nurse.
Wind chill temperatures were as low as minus 26 degrees Celsius.
She did not survive.
Sadly, the number of horses that have suffered under Redlick is simply too numerous to list here.
But thankfully, it would appear that the jig is up for Redlick.
Last February, Animal Welfare Services seized 16 horses from Redlick.
One horse named Midnight was in such dire condition, he had to be put down almost immediately.
Redlick was charged with 13 counts of animal neglect by Animal Welfare Services.
This included seven counts of failing to meet standard of care, three counts of causing distress, and three counts of permitting distress.
Animal Welfare Services notes the horses seized from Redlick were suffering from infected wounds, lameness, parasites, malnourishment, poor hygiene, and untreated medical conditions.
As well, Animal Welfare Services has invoiced Redlick for $116,000.
This is to pay for the necessary care of the surviving horses seized by the agency.
Now, I'm going to go out on a limb here, folks, and make a prediction right now that Animal Welfare Services will not receive a nickel from Redlick.
But Redlick is not only neglectful when it comes to caring for horses, but she's also an alleged fraudster, too.
Redlick is currently before the criminal court facing several theft and fraud charges.
Alleged Fraudster Redlick00:05:28
Last May, she was criminally charged by police.
She is accused of fraud totaling more than $26,000, theft over $5,000, making forged documents, and making false pretenses with intent to defraud using cattle worth more than $5,000.
And then last December, additional criminal charges were laid against Redlick, including uttering a forged document, fraud over $5,000, and being in the possession of the proceeds of crime and forgery.
She is also accused of passing off an altered check to defraud an auction house of more than $15,000.
Now, police began their fraud investigation regarding Redlick last year after they received a complaint about, quote, transportation and financial irregularities of livestock being transported from a farm in Tay Township and sold at a Cookston stockyard sale in September of 2024, end quote.
Here's the skinny, according to sources.
80-something John Dobson owned a farm nearby a property Redlick was renting.
Dobson owned a small herd of cattle, but he had to travel to Toronto for a medical procedure.
Well, wouldn't you know it?
Redlick being such a kind and compassionate young lady.
Well, she promised Dobson she'd look after his cows.
Oh, she looked after them, all right.
Redlick allegedly had the cattle hauled off to an auction house, pretending that the cows belonged to her.
She reportedly pocketed something like $60,000 from the sale, which led to the fraud and theft charges.
Unbelievable.
I should point out that Redlick is very thin-skinned when she receives criticism.
Should anyone call her out, her knee-jerk strategy is to engage in harassment, smear campaigns, and online deception, much of which would appear to meet the benchmark of defamation.
Marie Bennett of BenHorslaughter.com also notes that Redlick engages in other shenanigans.
For example, she says Redlick advertises cheap hay for sale.
Yet the images are allegedly stolen from U.S. farmers and equipment owners who have publicly confirmed they do not know her.
Redlick also has a documented pattern of misrepresenting horses she puts up for sale.
She routinely advertises injured or unsound horses as being healthy.
You know that old saying, don't buy a pig in a poke?
Well, when it comes to Redlick, don't buy a horse from her if it's cloaked in a blanket.
You might not like the sight that awaits your eyes once that blanket is removed.
Bennett also says Redlick has even gone so far as to allegedly sell horses that she does not own using photos plucked from the internet.
In some cases, Redlick claims delivery is included, but that's impossible, of course, given that she has no access to the horses that she's pretending to sell.
Most recently, Redlick has been laughably presenting herself as a so-called equine therapist.
She claims, quote, I'm like a doctor.
I'm a therapist, but I'm not registered, so you have to pay me directly.
OHIP doesn't cover my charges, end quote.
Well, of course, OHIP doesn't cover her charges.
And get this, when potential clients ask where her horses are or where the therapy appointments take place, Redlick allegedly insists they must first e-transfer a payment for 10 sessions, after which she will meet them at a Tim Hortons.
Par for the course, Redlick is a no-show.
Of note, Redlick has more than 30 aliases, including Stephanie Alicia and Stephanie Martin.
And she has more than a dozen phone numbers.
Nothing dodgy here, of course, except that these are the du regur telltale tactics of a scammer.
She also appears to have delusions of grandeur.
She speaks of having a tech team, yet her Zoom connection during animal welfare services tribunal hearings tends to crash, typically when the questions get a little too prickly for her liking.
She also brags of retaining a hot shot legal team, yet in criminal court last December, she said that she qualifies for legal aid.
And in truth, that might be the most honest statement Redlick has uttered in recent weeks, given her obvious lack of financial wherewithal.
Of course, there are two sides to every story.
Horses Seized: 1600:15:04
So a few days ago, we arranged to interview Stephanie Redlick.
Originally, the interview was going to take place in Norwich, Ontario, which is about two hours southwest of Toronto.
The Norwich venue is or was Redlick's current rental property.
I thought it would be interesting to check out the horses currently under her stewardship, as well as the conditions they are living in.
But the day before the interview, Redlick phoned to say that she had been deemed persona non grata by the property's landlord.
He allegedly threatened to call the police if she showed up at the farm.
Gee, why would that be?
A bounce check, perhaps?
So it was, we visited Redlick in North Toronto and conducted the interview in the foyer of her apartment building.
Check out the following excerpts.
And I ask you folks, are you buying what Stephanie Redlick is selling?
David Benzies for Rebel News here in North Toronto and I'm standing with Stephanie Redlick.
She is the principal of Above the Stars Equine Rescue.
And basically why we're here is Stephanie has told me off camera she's had all kinds of pitfalls and hurdles running her operation.
So Stephanie, without any further ado, tell us about Above the Stars Equine Rescue and what are the issues that you are dealing with right now.
Sure.
So Above the Stars Equine Rescue is strictly a family-run organization with our family.
We rescue horses from slaughter pipelines overseas.
Anything that's going to Mexico that needs to get off the truck comes to our facilities.
So we're struggling a lot with people insinuating that we're abusing horses.
We do not abuse horses.
We save horses from dying.
And how many horses have you saved?
I think you said at one time it was about a thousand.
Yeah, I think we've saved over 1,500, if I'm correct.
Are you able to document the number of horses that you've actually saved?
1,500 sounds like an incredible amount to me, and it must be, there must be some financial burden to saving so many horses.
Yes, absolutely.
Some of these horses need to be euthanized immediately, unfortunately, just because they're so far gone.
So every payment that I make is from my pocket.
I don't take any donations at all.
I do this all by myself.
I just have my father alongside working with me.
Where do you get your money for these horse rescues?
I actually buy and sell race horses and I breed race horses as well.
Okay, then.
And can you give me an idea of what your facility is?
Because I think you rent facilities?
Yes, so we do rent a couple facilities in the Ontario area for our horses to be safely housed and we take care of all those facilities.
Okay.
Now, originally, we were going to go to Norwich, Ontario, which is about two hours away from here.
I thought to have the barn in the background, see some of the horses, but you phoned me last night.
You said we can't go to Norwich because the landlord had threatened to call the police.
What's all that about?
So there's this lady named Marie Bennett.
She's the owner of Gann Horse Slaughter.
She's been after me for the past year now.
She's coerced many people into throwing myself and my father out of properties, trying to get animal welfare involved, taking horses away that we've rescued.
So that's pretty much what's going on right now again.
And, you know, I have reached out to Marie Bennett and others in the horsing community, and we should make mention that you have been charged by animal welfare services.
There's also fraud charges against you in court.
But let's take the animal welfare cruelty charges.
Stephanie, I understand 13 charges.
This includes seven counts of failing to meet standard of care, three counts of causing distress, three counts of permitting distress.
I understand you have to really severely mistreat an animal before animal welfare services gets involved.
Can you tell me what that's all about?
Yes, sure.
So we rented a property last year in Port Perry, Ontario, where we housed 17 of our horses, which some of those were show horses, some of those were race horses, some of those were brood mares that created top-notch babies for us.
And we had a couple of the rescues there where we were illegally locked out again of the facility, which made animal welfare have intervention with us, except animal welfare wasn't corresponding with us properly due to an illegal lockout.
So what ended up happening was seizure of 16 horses because someone by the name of Mr. Corey Warren in Port Perry, Ontario ended up starving them.
Oh, he starved them.
How did that come to be?
So Animal Welfare Services appointed Mr. Corey Warren to be the custodian of my 16 horses on property.
He had no horse knowledge at all.
He's not a horse guy at all.
So when they appointed him, we were very concerned.
We reached out to the chief animal welfare inspector and tried to have conversations with her.
She just wouldn't answer the phone, wouldn't answer any emails.
And then all of a sudden, our horses were gone off the property.
Till this day, I don't know where they are.
And one of the horses, I understand, midnight had to be put down, right?
Yes, that's correct.
She was so severely emaciated and starved to death that the facility that they ended up placing her at, in my disclosure and my court disclosure, ended up putting her down when I was the legal owner of her when they were not turned over to the Crown Attorney's office.
So I had full say in what would happen to midnight and they defied me.
So it ended up in her passing away.
Stephanie, with all due respect, these horses were in your care, were they not?
I mean, you're running the horse rescue operation.
So some of those horses just had come to us, so they were in deplorable condition.
We had a horse that was covered in probably manure from head to toe when we rescued her, and our vets were telling us to just leave it on because it's so impacted on her that when the weather warms up, it'll fall off of her.
And where do you acquire these horses typically?
I go to Ontario Livestock Exchange.
I acquire some horses from some of my friends in the States that have big rescues there.
So once they're finished, they're quarantine in the States, they come to Ontario.
And, you know, people in the horse community, they have flagged horses being in deplorable conditions.
There's no other word for it.
Horses with open wounds, horses standing in up to three feet of manure, water buckets frozen, no hay for them to eat.
They tell me, I'm not a horse expert by any means, but without constant food and water, it's pretty much a death sentence.
How did those horses in your care get into that situation?
So the horses in my care were never in that situation.
That's not the story.
That's not what everybody knows.
What happened is my landlord put all manure inside of my barn in a property at Oro-Medante, which the Ontario provincial police know about and the courts, because we're in the middle of trial right now.
So there was no frozen waters.
What ended up happening was when waters got frozen, we put buckets on the side of the wall and we slammed them out.
It's winter.
It's minus 40.
You can't stop that from happening.
So those photos I've seen of water frozen buckets, those aren't your, from your barn?
The horses had water accessible 24-7.
Tell me about a horse by the name of Seattle Sunrise.
I understand you acquired him in November 2024.
He was described as being in pristine condition, former racehorse, and in the space of three months, had to be put down.
What happened?
So I ended up leasing out Seattle Sunrise.
I won't talk about that too much right now because the person's under indictment who did have him.
He got dropped off to my property in Port Perry at the end of my driveway in emaciated, deplorable condition.
Seattle Sunrise did.
That is very true.
Yes.
I was told that he was in pristine condition.
He was not in pristine condition, that horses had a lot of underlying health issues, and that's why he could not be a racehorse.
And we purchased him for $1,000.
Okay, then.
And so what happened?
It was just, if it was in such bad condition, surely you would have reached out to a vet, wouldn't you?
I didn't have possession of him.
He was a leased-out horse, which is a free lease.
So someone signed a contract with us that he would be taking care of Seattle Sunrise.
They did not.
And apparently he got dropped off to the end of my driveway.
I pulled up to the property and there he was.
So how does it work?
Because I thought you're running the rescue operation.
Do you have, is it a matter of like subcontracting out the horses to other horse caregivers?
So what we end up doing is some of the horses, they need a job.
Well, most horses, all horses need a job just like us humans.
So we source the horses out and we vet the people and we trust that the people are being legit with us.
And unfortunately, not everybody in this world is an honest person and they do bad things.
So Seattle got returned to us in that condition.
I met a lady named Crystal Mitchells.
She said she had a rescue.
She doesn't have a charity rescue registered in Ontario, Canada.
She was given a contract that if I gave Seattle to her, she would not euthanize him because he would be at Guelph being treated by Dr. McCarroll.
And I did reach out to Crystal and she told me she did take possession of the horse.
She did hire a vet.
It cost thousands of dollars right from the get-go.
The vet told her, I don't know if this horse can be saved.
Unfortunately, that proved to be true.
But it seemed to me from what I, my conversation with Crystal, that she was going all out to save Seattle Sunrise.
No, Crystal was not going out to save Seattle Sunrise.
Unfortunately, Crystal has no money.
So her friend Marie Bennett is the one who sources her all her money to help her even run her farm.
She can't afford hay.
She can't afford grain.
She's messaged me several times if I could help her after bashing me online.
You know, I'll reach out to her again, but she told me she currently has possession of three very healthy horses, their rescues.
So I had no indication that they were being deprived of food regarding the hay.
So there was one horse that I did turn over to Crystal, and the deal was that she was supposed to have a hernia surgery immediately.
Crystal gave us a story where her veterinarian said she wasn't healthy enough to do it.
I'm sorry, Crystal, that horse was in great weight.
She could have gone through the surgery right away.
And if that was so, I would have kept the horse and brought her to Guelph University.
I had no problem with that at all.
And still till this day, we're going on 11 months.
It's not been done her hernia surgery.
So I don't know how the horse would be in good condition when she has a massive rupture.
Tell me, these people in the horse community, Crystal, Marie, others who I've spoken to, what would be their agenda to malign you if they too are horse lovers?
So I wouldn't call them horse lovers at all.
I've been doing this since I was eight years old.
I used to run 250 head of cattle, 300 sheep and 500 horses for a horse dealer.
I really know what true horsemanship is about and it's not what they're doing.
You don't go online trying to destroy someone's business when they've been nothing but nice to the equine community supporting many horses that need immediate care.
And right now with the animal welfare services 13 charges, you are also, you've also been given a bill, I think, in the nature of $116,000, which they need to feed the horses.
Has that been paid?
No, so that's not being paid to the Ministry of Finance.
Our lawyer is dealing with everything.
It wouldn't be feasible for us to pay $116,000 to the Ontario government because they legally seized our horses due to Corey Warren starving them.
You mentioned lawyers.
I understand, like you've said in the past, you have a legal team, but then I heard that you've been applying for legal aid.
Is that correct?
No, I haven't applied for legal aid.
Oh, okay.
So you have a lawyer?
Yes, I've personally assigned a lawyer.
What would be his or her name?
I don't want to say that just in case he gets thrown through the mud like I have.
Oh, okay, then.
Now, in addition to the animal welfare charges, you are facing fraud charges too.
Can we talk about John Dobson?
As I understand it, he had a head of cattle.
He's an elderly man.
He had to go to Toronto for surgery.
You said you'd take care of the cattle, but allegedly you loaded them up and took them to an auction house and pocketed around $60,000.
That's the nature of that fraud.
What happened there, Stephanie?
So I could say that is totally not true.
Unfortunately, we're putting publication bans on everything right now with that case, and I am not guilty.
It's going through trial.
And has a judge granted a publication ban?
Judge is granting a publication ban on the 29th of this month.
Oh, okay.
So it hasn't happened yet.
No, we just had a meeting with the prosecutor and everybody else in the courthouse and they see the means for the publication ban.
Okay.
So why would Mr. Dobson be talking about losing his head of cattle and you pocketing the money from basically his property?
Right.
Mr. Dobson is a very poor old man that had asked for help.
I gave him help and then he made up a story.
He wants to go to his insurance company and claim that the cattle were stolen.
Unfortunately, that's not the case.
And if I can read the charges, fraud totaling more than 26,000?
Pardon me?
I'd rather you not.
Oh, okay, then.
Well, I mean, it's a matter of public record, though, Stephanie.
Okay.
Okay, but so fraud totaling more than 26,000, theft over 5,000, making forged documents as well as false pretenses with intent to defraud using cattle worth more than $5,000.
You know, that's very definitive.
Despite The Charges00:05:29
How do you answer that?
I mean, what happened to his cattle when they were in your care?
So I never cared for his cattle.
I don't know where anybody ever came up with that information.
I would never care for John Dobson's sick, emaciated animals with the Yoni's disease.
Why would I ever touch anything that's diseased?
Okay, this is new for me.
I hadn't heard that the cattle were in okay.
Yeah, those cattle had Yone's disease and they were deemed slaughter cattle.
So John Dobson did shoot them all and put them in his back 40.
Wow.
Well, I'll reach out to Mr. Dobson to confirm that.
The other issue on fraud, Stephanie, for your charity, Above the Stars Equin Rescue, you said it was a registered charity with the Canadian Revenue Agency, Canada Revenue Agency rather.
You gave a charity number, but evidently it doesn't exist.
It was a business number that we set up, not a charity number.
I don't know whoever said a charity number.
We have a business number, but not a charity.
I told you I'm not a charity.
Oh, you're not a charity?
No, I do not take funds from everyone in the middle of the report.
I even said that in the beginning.
I said that as well.
Did you claim to be a charity at one point?
I one time wanted to make it a charity organization and decided I don't need to.
Okay, then, but again, just to be specific, did you claim to have a charity with a charity registration number?
No, the answer is no, I did not.
Okay, then.
So we go on and, you know, there's a whole list of various things.
I haven't found from my sources Animal Welfare Services notes the horses suffered from infected wounds, lameness, parasites, malnourishment, poor hygiene, and untreated medical conditions.
Again, how did they get into that state?
And if they, even if you acquired them in such a state, why not get a vet on the case?
Because we were illegally thrown out of our property again, which made the horses have wounds not being tended to because Mr. Corey Warren could not treat them.
Don't know why animal welfare services appointed him to be a custodian.
And when you say you were illegally thrown out of your property and sure enough, today we were supposed to be in Norwich having this interview um, what happens?
I mean, there have been allegations that you write checks that bounce um no, I don't write checks that bounce.
But hold on one second, because I'm gonna grab my dad because that would have to do with him.
Oh okay yeah, he's writing the checks.
Yes, the checks are from him.
I don't write checks to people.
I'm happy to talk to your dad as well.
Can I bring him on down for you to talk?
Absolutely okay okay, thank you.
So thank you.
In the final analysis, I'm not quite sure what to make of Stephanie Redlick.
Is she a grifter?
Is she mentally ill, or is it a bit of both?
She's certainly full of entitlement, despite the number of horses that have suffered horrifically under her care.
It's never, ever her fault.
There's zero accountability.
Even when a horse has no hay to eat, even when a horse has no water to drink, even when a horse has open source, it is always always, always somebody else's fault as well.
Redlick displays a persecution complex.
She seems to genuinely believe that the entire world is out to get her for reasons that remain mysterious.
But here's something I find to be truly off the charts, incredible.
Rebel NEWS did not track down Stephanie Redlick.
We did not scrum her on an impromptu basis upon a public sidewalk.
Rather, it was the Redlick family that reached out to us for an interview.
Despite the mountain of evidence against Stephanie Redlick, despite the ongoing animal neglect and fraud charges she faces, Stephanie continues to play the victim card.
Her hood spot is unbelievable.
The fact of the matter is, the real victims in Redlick's universe are those people she does business with and, of course, the poor horses that have the misfortune of being placed in her care.
And yet the alleged horse rescuer is the real victim here, really.
But here's some added tragedy, somehow, some way, Stephanie Redlick can still buy a horse today, no muss, no fuss despite, Despite the fraud charges, despite the animal neglect charges, despite her brutal reputation and her abysmal track record, to me that means the system is clearly broken and it needs to be fixed.
Otherwise, by hook or by crook, Redlick will continue to acquire horses and those horses will continue to suffer and die.
In the final analysis, Stephanie Redlick shouldn't be anywhere near a horse.