The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an animal cruelty case involving a show horse.
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“This type of thing has been going on in our state, not here though”, said Dave Bristow with the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.
His wife noticed their brand new horse was missing Sunday morning.
He didn’t believe this specific horse was targeted, he said somebody probably had an order for horse meat.
It is illegal in Florida to slaughter horses for meat, but reports indicate that the black market demand for is high, with buyers from Palm Beach to Miami.
According to the Bradenton Herald, Deborah Stephens recently purchased the 12-year-old, 1,300-pound horse, named Phedras de Blondel, from a German owner.
Davis said he is considering stationing someone to guard his barn at night and installing a buzzer system that would warn him whenever anyone entered his property for any reason. “Maybe if we’re vigilant this won’t happen again here or anywhere else”.
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Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office at 941-747-3011 or Crime Stoppers at 866-634-TIPS.
