Horse rescue charity gets temporary win, as judge blocks sale of farm it rents

A charity that takes care of abused, neglected and unwanted horses has won a temporary reprieve from having to leave the rural Kane County farm it calls home.

Kane County Judge Kevin Busch issued a temporary restraining order Wednesday preventing the sale of the Maple Park property where Casey’s Safe Haven Holistic Rescue and Sanctuary operates.

The ruling was issued in a lawsuit Casey’s filed against the group that owns the property. The nonprofit took legal action on March 24 after it learned that someone was poised to buy the site at 8N005 Route 47.

Option to buy

The horse sanctuary, which has been operating in Kane County since 2012, started renting the Maple Park farm in 2019. It takes care of about a dozen horses, including two horses that are 46 and 48 years old, some that are blind, and one donkey.

“We have to save a place like Casey’s,” Mitchell Bornstein, the head trainer who oversees the operations at Casey’s, said in a January news article. “We cannot shut down because if we shut down I have to euthanize a barn full of animals. I don’t plan on doing that.”

According to a Facebook post from March 2019, an unspecified group of people bought the land for the rescue to use.

The 10-acre farm “was purchased by a group of ‘Angels’ who care deeply about Casey’s Safe Haven and wanted to see us have a permanent home to continue our mission of rescuing and rehabilitating equine in need as well as giving back to the community. This means we now have the security of knowing we will never have to go through a move again,” the Facebook post reads.

Bornstein said in 2019, when Casey’s had to move from its previous home, the farm’s owners told the organization they would buy the Maple Park site and deed it over to the organization at some point.

“We were promised the property,” Bornstein said, adding they told him, “You don’t have to worry,”

However, that the offer was never put in writing, he said.

The lawsuit contends the managers of Brundige Farm Partners LLC, which owns the farm, agreed in the fall of 2024 that Brundige would not list the property for sale until the spring to allow Casey’s time to raise money to buy the property.

It also says they agreed that Casey’s would be able to purchase the property for the amount of the remaining balance of the mortgage on the property.

The lawsuit alleges Brundige acknowledged the option by telling unnamed third parties about it, orally and in writing.

The managers of the LLC — Nancy O. McCormick of St. Charles and Jerilyn Tatje of Oswego — are listed on Casey’s website as lifetime members of the rescue. McCormick was secretary of the organization, according to a 2023 tax return.

A phone message has been left with Tatje. McCormick does not have a listed number. Emails also have been sent to them.

They are no longer involved with the organization, Bornstein said.

Another buyer

Casey’s learned in December that the property was being marketed.

According to the lawsuit, representatives of Brundige said it was to “test the market” and that it still intended to sell to Casey’s.

A listing on Realtors.com says the asking price is $1.09 million for the 10-acre property, which includes a two-bedroom house, two riding arenas, a 26-stall horse barn and a hay barn.

In late February, Casey’s notified Brundige it had financing and intended to buy the property. That day, Brundige responded by asking for immediate payment. Casey’s refused to do so unless it received written confirmation that if it did so, it would get title to the property, according to the lawsuit.

Brundige then contracted to sell the property to someone else two days later. A manager told Casey’s about it and said the group had 60 days to move.

Nobody appeared on Brundige’s behalf at Wednesday’s hearing. Representatives had been served with notice of the hearing, according to Douglas Cuscaden, Casey’s lawyer.

The next court date is April 22.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20250406/news/horse-rescue-charity-gets-temporary-win-as-judge-blocks-sale-of-farm-it-rents/