A farm owner in Palmetto woke up Sunday morning to her greatest fear: finding one of her prized horses mutilated for its meat. Only his head and neck were left intact.
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In this Sunday, October 25, 2015, photo, police tape surrounds the…
The horse’s owner had been sleeping in a home on the property at the time.
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.
The owner of Imperial Farms, Steve Stephens, said the horse, Phedras De Blondel, had just arrived in the United States recently.
Just last week she brought champion Phedras De Blondel over from Europe.
Anyone with information in the case is asked to call the sheriff’s office at 941-747-3011 or Crime Stoppers at 866-634-TIPS.
It is believed the 12-year-old gelding was slaughtered for his meat.
“It could be the suspects scoped out this ranch” because they saw the large horse, Bristow said. And earlier this month, officials in Palm Beach County raided three slaughterhouses accused of illegally selling horse meat. “There’s no illusion of humane slaughter”. She said he was likely still alive when they began to butcher him. The ranch is not far from the interstate.
Debbie Stephens bought the horse and said, “He was just an unbelievable athlete, he is like what can I do for you, always the horse of your dreams”.
The slaughter of horses is illegal in the state of Florida, and investigators are also treating the crime as grand theft and occupied burglary. A security camera was in the stall area but it was not immediately known whether it captured any images of the horse being led out.
Since the news broke, the show horse industry has raising more than ten-thousand dollars in reward money.
“This can happen to anyone’s horse”, she said.
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Debbie is warning all horse owners to take precautions.
