Several stolen horses are found slaughtered in rural South Miami-Dade, police say
Thieves stole and slaughtered three horses from the Redland agricultural district either late Thursday night or early Friday morning, according to the Miami-Dade Police Department.
Police got a call around 8 a.m. Friday that the horses were stolen, Detective Alvaro Zabaleta told reporters at a news briefing near where the horses were found dead. Officers assigned to the department’s agriculture unit responded to the remote area.
“They looked up and saw some vultures, and they said, ‘Let’s see where it leads us,’” Zabaleta said. “And, sure enough, it led them to where they had been discovered.”
Police say the thieves walked the horses from the stable where they lived near the 12400 block of Southwest 197th Avenue to a property next door. They cut a hole in a chain link fence, and led the animals to an open field, where officers found them “slaughtered for their meat,” Zabaleta said.
The horses killed were a male 6 to 8 years old, named Bucefalo; a 14-to-16-year-old female named Paloma; and a 20-year-old named Miranda, Zabaleta said. No one has been arrested.
Therapy horse killed
One of the horses was used to provide therapy to children on the autism spectrum, its caretaker told the Miami Herald.
David Yepez, 39, was Paloma’s caretaker. He said the horse was used in therapy, mostly to treat children with autism and other cognitive conditions.
To Yepez, an Army veteran familiar with post-traumatic stress issues, Paloma’s death is tragic on multiple levels. He lost an animal he’s grown to care greatly for, and, the children who Paloma helped have lost a valuable resource.
“The therapeutic aspect of horses is something near and dear to me,” Yepez said. “It’s sad. You build an attachment, and you see the impact this horse has, not just on one person, but, several people.”
Police have no information on suspects, and said it’s not clear if this case is related to other illegal horse slaughters in the Redland in recent years.
Horse killings in Miami-Dade
This is not the first time that horses have been found slaughtered in Miami-Dade.
On Jan. 3, two stolen horses were found in pieces near 20641 SW 168th St., about four miles south of Friday’s crime scene, according to Miami Herald’s news partner CBS News Miami.
In December, a 39-year-old man was arrested near Hialeah and accused of the illegal sale of 40 pounds of horse meat, police said at the time. The arrest of Alain Arencibia-Diaz was the result of a sting operation after officers had received a tip that a horse had been recently killed to sell its meat. His next court date is March 18.
In 2016, a horse was found in pieces off a dirt road in the Homestead area. Later that year, police arrested a 70-year-old man, accusing him of selling horse meat for $7 a pound in an agricultural area west of Hialeah and Florida’s Turnpike Extension. A judge later imposed a probation sentence on Manuel Coto-Martinez in connection to an animal welfare conviction.
Zabaleta said there is a black market for horse meat, but he warned the public that not only is stealing and slaughtering horses illegal, the meat isn’t safe for human consumption because of all the medications the animals are given to keep them healthy.
“Just because it’s expensive doesn’t mean it’s a delicacy,” he said.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava echoed the same warning while offering sympathy to the owners of the horses.
“My deepest sympathies go to the bereft owners as they try to find answers to an incredible loss and some certainty that this will not happen again,” Levine Cava said in a statement on Friday. “This issue affects us all, from the agricultural community that is suffering these attacks on their private property, to other members of the community that could be putting their health at risk. My administration is ready to work with all stakeholders and the community to put an end to this problem.”
If caught, the people who killed the horses will face felony charges related to theft and animal cruelty, Zabaleta said.
The Redland is a widespread, remote area in South Miami-Dade, populated by fruit and vegetable farms, nurseries and livestock. The county police department has a unit specifically tasked with patrolling the area. But its isolated topography can make it easy for thieves to slip in and out, and, tougher for police to find witnesses.
Police are asking anyone with information on the horse slaughter to call Miami-Dade & The Florida Keys Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477 or visit crimestoppers305.com. All tips to Crime Stoppers are anonymous.
