Villa Chardonnay Horses With Wings, a sprawling animal sanctuary tucked into the Cuyamaca Mountains in San Diego County, billed itself for years as a place where unwanted animals could find love and a second chance at life.
A video tour of the sanctuary posted in 2023 showed horses grazing and galloping across a vast expanse of the 40-acre property in Julian and a cattery where felines lounged in cat condos.
But rescue organizations that seized hundreds of domestic and farm animals from the property this month painted a different picture of the operation — one where animals suffered from severe neglect, malnutrition, emaciation, untreated open wounds and contagious infections…