Show horse has been found slaughtered in Palmetto.
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Deputies said it had been taken out of its stall before being killed. They believe Phedras was chosen because the animal was big and heavy, according to the station.
The horse was found dead and butchered, with large portions of meat cut from it and missing, deputies say.
The couple was charged with four misdemeanor counts of animal abuse.
If someone is trying to sell the horse’s meat, local horse people and law enforcement caution that horses are filled with drugs to keep them healthy and those drugs are not fit for human consumption.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – Just days ago, the almost 1,300-pound, powerful jumping horse with a shiny chestnut coat named Phedras de Blondel arrived at his new home in the USA, a farm owned by a champion rider in Florida.
“We are shocked and horrified by this gruesome act and are working around the clock to find any information connected that could lead us to the monsters responsible”.
There are now no United States slaughterhouses that process horse meat, however, making it hard to obtain legally.
“It’s a frightful crime scene, and obviously for the owner to have to go through this is just absolutely bad”, said Dave Bristow, spokesman for the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.
“Call 941-747-3011 and report it immediately if someone is selling meat”, Bristow said. “They get medication that kills worms every three months, and that stays in the horse as well”. But more than that, eating a horse is like eating someone’s family member, Petra Hublot said. “It’s one of the cruelest things that could happen to any horse. We hope they catch them”.
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Stephens is a veteran show jumper and holds the women’s high jump record of 7 feet, 8 inches. The crime has been classified as a burglary of an occupied dwelling, grand theft and cruelty to an animal.
