[QUOTE=Joanne;8376868]
Not sure why they keep saying the Tampa region. Palmetto is closer to St. Peterburg and Bradenton, and even Sarasota.[/QUOTE]
It’s the Tampa Metro Area. Semantics. Just like how people say that WEF is in West Palm.
[QUOTE=Joanne;8376868]
Not sure why they keep saying the Tampa region. Palmetto is closer to St. Peterburg and Bradenton, and even Sarasota.[/QUOTE]
It’s the Tampa Metro Area. Semantics. Just like how people say that WEF is in West Palm.
[QUOTE=vxf111;8376916]
I hate to be gruesome but I understand that they left the head and I would think an ID would be possible with that.[/QUOTE]
They left the head, neck and rib cage. I would think they knew it was the correct horse by the head. Debbie and Steve both saw the remains that were left, I would think they’d be able tell if it’s their horse or not.
[QUOTE=Joanne;8376868]
Not sure why they keep saying the Tampa region. Palmetto is closer to St. Petersburg and Bradenton, and even Sarasota.[/QUOTE]
Tampa Bay area includes Bradenton and Sarasota.
[QUOTE=BITSA;8376848]
unless its mandatory, the problem is you need a judge who will impose jail time. When I was a prosecutor I prosecuted all the animal abuse/neglect cases in my county (for about a year). Even if convicted some of the judges wouldn’t give jail time and/or the jail would let the people out early because the jail was overcrowded. If they catch the people who did this, they need to get as many felony counts as they can and then hope the person has a criminal history and a judge who is willing to throw the book at him.[/QUOTE]
And if the person is in this country illegally???
Horrible melodramatic news reporting. That reporter on site is one bad actress.
Because of the illegal slaughtering that has been going on, the one good thing that former governor Charlie Crist did was to make it a felony to steal and butcher a horse in the state of Florida. The 2 who were caught a few years ago and prosecuted are still in jail, I believe. I think they each got a minimum of 5 years.
http://animallawcoalition.com/fl-gov-signs-horse-protection-law/
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/57071/florida-anti-slaughter-bill-becomes-law
For anyone interested, it appears that this story will be covered on Nancy Grace tonight on HLN.
[QUOTE=ybiaw;8376836]
This incident did not happen in Wellington, it happened in the Tampa area.[/QUOTE]
I’m aware of the geographical logistics . I’m also aware that this sort of poaching and butchering has not been prevalent in that area before. While it’s become a terrible common occurrence in the Miami/Dade and west palm areas .
I think more more my point Ybiaw is that it is more then strange that the ARM director would mention / insist the animals being slaughtered in your local area are " Wellington show horses " multiple times per interview . Them have a show horse imediatley targeted.
[QUOTE=AZ TD;8376884]
Here is a weird thought. What if someone stole the stallion, left the remains of a slaughtered horse as a red herring? That would explain why they took the legs away, to prevent positive id.[/QUOTE]
Someone posted a picture on FB of a sheriff standing in front of the horse’s remains. You could definitely ID the horse.
My eyeballs will be seared forever with that picture… I immediately hit “Hide”, but you cannot unsee something.
The dismemberment was definitely the work of an expert.
too bad there isn’t such thing as “Wild West” justice anymore. This is a case where it would be well-deserved
A horse this size can bring in $16,000.00 in black market horse meat … on Nancy Grace … probably like sushi.
Yeah I can’t un-see that…<shudder>
Before this happenned I was clueless to the slaughter of horses for their meat in Florida and I live here in central Florida. I’ve never heard anything on the news or in the papers. But this incident has made the national news and it’s probably due to the fact that the Stephens are famous on the horse show circuit.
Years ago I was awakened in the middle of the night when I heard noises outside and it turned out to be someone trying to steal one of my horses. They were parked on the road next to the barn with a horse trailer. Thankfully I was able to scare them off. But I never found out who it was and the police didn’t do squat! Hopefully these people (that’s too nice of a term to call them!) will be found soon!
[QUOTE=horsegurl;8375599]
There was a post on Facebook where the comments included someone stating that this type of slaughter crime has been going on for a while in Florida. Either it doesn’t make the media and reach the masses or the authorities ignore it. I believe this act agains the Stephens was a reaction to the slaughter houses being raided in Loxahatchee, but, could have also been just a continuation of the slaughter crimes in Florida. Note date on article, last July…
http://m.local10.com/news/competitive-show-horse-slaughtered-for-meat-in-hialeah/34315018[/QUOTE]
Still so saddened. Has to be some sort of purposeful crime. And these are not the only criminals. They will be caught, but thete are others. There has to be a total crackdown on this by the authorities. Miami, Dade, Tampa…doesn’t matter…Texas, Louisiana…anywhere could be a victim. ??
Still so saddened. Has to be some sort of purposeful crime. And these are not the only criminals. They will be caught, but thete are others. There has to be a total crackdown on this by the authorities. Miami, Dade, Tampa…doesn’t matter…Texas, Louisiana…anywhere could be a victim.
One of the ‘backyard’ horses that got butchered alive was someone’s cute little mare with a foal at her side. They found the foal trying to nurse on the remains. This has been going on for awhile.
The authorities have at least tried to catch these folks … but the butchers seem to be pretty smart.
That is incredible! Wow!
I am in Colorado and have read and heard of this problem in Florida, it has been reported in equestrian news and nationally, for years.:yes:
[QUOTE=AZ TD;8376884]
Here is a weird thought. What if someone stole the stallion, left the remains of a slaughtered horse as a red herring? That would explain why they took the legs away, to prevent positive id.[/QUOTE]
GELDING. Not picking on this particular poster but it’s the first one calling him a stallion and several posts that follow are doing tne same. According to the COTH coverage, it was a gelding.
Not that it makes much difference but facts sometimes fall by the wayside as threads get longer and those joining the discussion later pick up the inaccuracies and continue to perpetuate them
Anybody else catch that Nancy Grace piece on this last night? It was…as expected…shrill with “experts” pushing agendas, not providing any information and derailing any discussion to the point she got frustrated with them. Did have some nice video of the horse in competition.
And perhaps somewhat relevant, since it sounds like they might have picked this horse in part because he was easy to handle. Too bad they didn’t go into the wrong stall and end up trying to lead a stallion like Halo or Dynaformer out with just a rope. :mad: