14 December 2015
Recently we have had stories coming from Florida about horses being stolen and, as one owner told us, just 'filleted for his meat'. Let us make one thing very clear-Stolen Horse International does what we do to: A. try to prevent horses from being stolen in the first place, and B. we try to recover them, if possible, when they have been stolen-regardless of the reason for which they were taken.
Stealing horses can happen for a number of reasons-it just so happens that slaughter is the most horrifying. But the difference for people living in south Florida as opposed to the rest of the country is this one very nasty detail-in the rest of the country, the thieves will haul the horses to Canada or Mexico where the unmentionable will happen. In south Florida, they may do it right on the backside of your own property-and leave the remains for you to find. Or just walk your horse up the road a short distance. That's the horror these people are facing.
We've told you about Buddy-a personable little fellow who was stolen from behind a chain link fence. Perhaps you've read the story of Phedras de Blondel, the high priced jumper recently imported from France by Centennial Farms found slaughtered not even a week later on the far side of that property in Manatee County.
This is Thunder-his owner, Sandra Fogg, reported him missing to Miami-Dade authorities on November 22, 2015. A 23 year old, 16 hand retired Standardbred, Thunder was easily the largest horse in the pasture. That was probably what made him attractive to the thieves.
They tried to cover up the theft by fixing the place in the fence that they cut. Tire tracks were apparent next to the road.
By the next day, Thunder's remains had been located. Her worst fears had been realized.
Why do people even do this in the United States where just the possession of horse meat is illegal?
Most of the time the people who do this are immigrants-from Haiti, Cuba, some of the Carribean islands, Latin America, some Europeans, Africans, some from the Far Eastern nations, or the Middle East. Sometimes it is cultural-it is just something that they are used to having and they miss it. Everybody has favorite foods and, when you leave home, you crave those foods.
For others, it can be at least partially religious-they need to have their meat slaughtered in a very particular way and it needs to come from animals that have certain very particular characteristics. For the Jews, this is known as kosher and for the Muslims as halal. These animals must be disease free, perfect in every way, and slaughtered in a prescribed fashion. Nothing else is permissable.
It is thought that at least a few horses are being targeted off the international flights for slaughter just for this very reason-they are known to have been tested to be disease free, the flight manifests tell where they will be going, and they are assumed to be perfect.
What these people do not realize is-these horses are tested for only four diseases-they could have others. They are also more likely than other horses to be wormed with pesticides, covered in flyspray, have antibiotic residues in their systems, possibly steriods, possibly chemicals such as DMSO or liniments used on them, they very likely were sedated for the trip, and who knows what else is in that meat. It is most definitely not something that should be consumed by humans.
