News 1,300-pound show horse slaughtered on Florida farm

[brassmonkey]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) ? Just days ago, the nearly 1,300-pound, powerful jumping horse with a shiny chestnut coat named Phedras de Blondel arrived at his new home in the U.S., a farm owned by a champion rider in Florida.

On Sunday morning, his owner discovered a horrific scene near his stall: the 12-year-old gelding had been slaughtered and butchered, most likely for his meat. Only his head and neck were left intact. Now, detectives are trying to find the perpetrators.

"What they did to this horse had nothing to do with his value," Debbie Stephens, who owns the 27-acre ranch in Palmetto, said Monday. She would not disclose the price she paid for the horse, but show horses can sell for tens of thousands of dollars. "It's one of the cruelest things that could happen to any horse. This just turned my life around."

Stephens is a veteran show jumper and holds the women's high jump record of 7 feet, 8 inches. Her husband was a co-designer of the show jumping courses for the 2008 Olympic Games in China.

The couple and others have raised more than $18,000 toward a reward they hope will lead to an arrest. Manatee County Sheriff's deputies say that's what it will take to crack the case.

Horse meat is illegal in Florida, but a black market for it exists, said Nick Atwood, a spokesman for the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida. During the 2010 Florida Legislative Session, he said, a bill passed that strengthened the state's restrictions on the sale of horse meat for human consumption. It is now illegal in Florida to sell, purchase, distribute, transport or possess horse meat unless "it is clearly stamped, marked, or described as horse meat for human consumption."

There are currently no U.S. slaughterhouses that process horse meat, however, making it difficult to obtain legally.

While eating horse meat is generally taboo in the U.S., it is common in dishes in some Caribbean and European countries. Atwood said there are some people living in the U.S. willing to pay top dollar.

It's not the first time horses have been targeted for meat in Florida. In July, animal rescue officials said a competitive show horse named "Smart Amanda Whiz" was slaughtered for its meat in Hialeah. And earlier this month, officials in Palm Beach County raided three slaughterhouses accused of illegally selling horse meat.

"The horses are slaughtered horribly," Atwood said. "There's no illusion of humane slaughter."

That's the case with Phedras, said Stephens, who said the horse was friendly and probably went with his killers willingly. She said he was likely still alive when they began to butcher him.

She said probably more than one person was involved in the slaughter because the horse was so big.

The horse was probably targeted because of his size, officials said.

"It could be the suspects scoped out this ranch," said Dave Bristow, a spokesman from the Manatee County Sheriff's Office. The ranch is not far from the interstate.

Stephens said she's reinforcing her ranch to protect the other 50 horses that live on the property ? and she's planning to raise more money for the reward and speak out about the problem of illegal horse slaughter. Florida is a popular state for show horses, and she wants to protect other animals and owners.

"This can happen to anyone's horse," she said.

1,300-pound show horse slaughtered on Florida farm - Yahoo News

[stoka]

did you type it or copy-paste?

[mineistaken]

Non human death reporting is a new twist for this copy paster. Mixing things up.

[pornstarlet-net]

The horse was worth more than 100x the meat. WTF crazies.

Why does it have to be Florida again

[poncabare]

Rip trigger

[nico-t]

Originally Posted by mineistaken

Non human death reporting is a new twist for this copy paster. Mixing things up.

brasshat for the win!

[CaptainHowdy]

Mortadella ...

[L-Pink]

What a horrible thing for a pet owner to discover ... your animal butchered for it's meat, the bloody carcass left for you to find.

[SilentKnight]

Hafta' point the finger at Morgan Freeman.

He's clearly eating a horsemeat burger.

[escorpio]

I had horse meat once. It was fucking horrible.

[brassmonkey]

Originally Posted by escorpio

I had horse meat once. It was fucking horrible.

why????

[escorpio]

Originally Posted by brassmonkey

why????

Why did I eat it or why was it horrible? I ate it because it was served. It was horrible because it was stringy, tough and gamey tasting.

[Dvae]

Originally Posted by SilentKnight

Hafta' point the finger at Morgan Freeman.

He's clearly eating a horsemeat burger.

I know - they all look the same to white folk

[Dvae]

Originally Posted by escorpio

I had horse meat once. It was fucking horrible.

If you live in any one of several European countries probably more than once. I seem to recall a news story where horse meat was substituted for beef.

[bronco67]

Notice how Brass put the horse's weight in the thread title, to grab the reader's attention? I wouldn't usually care about a horse, but a 1300 pound horse sounds like something I want to know about. That's Pulitzer award winning journalism tactics there.

[j3rkules]

This is what multiculturalism gets us.

[Petra]

Originally Posted by L-Pink

What a horrible thing for a pet owner to discover ... your animal butchered for it's meat, the bloody carcass left for you to find.

Or try to imagine catching someone trying to steal your pet to take it to slaughter. I'm not sure what's worse.

Back in the 90s when there were still a few slaughter houses that took horse for human consumption and horse meat hit an all time high per pound, people actually went around stealing horses in my area. We were lucky enough to catch the asshole trying to take mine (he was roughly 1200lbs, a very, very big boy), but several of my fellow 4-Hers got theirs taken in the night. ;-\

[NoWhErE]

Why is horse meat illegal? Most stores here in Canada sell it, so there is no blackmarket.

Its also pretty good.

[VikingMan]

Diversity is clearly our strength. Enjoy! Eat some more junk food and watch more TV.

[RebelR]

Originally Posted by NoWhErE

Why is horse meat illegal? Most stores here in Canada sell it, so there is no blackmarket.

Its also pretty good.

It is actually rare to find it outside of Quebec. Most of the meat produced in Quebec and Alberta is exported. I think there are only 4 slaughterhouses approved for horse meat and they are in the aforementioned provinces.

On a side note about the story, the article mentions the value of the horse possibly being in the 10's of thousands, but for a Grand Prix jumper it's not unlikely that it's much higher than that. More likely $150k plus. That's some expensive tartare.

[gnawledge]

This happened in the bordering county I live in. The true answer to this is: Florida is a shit hole, that county is the leading county of heroin issues in the state and it is just a depressing fuck hole. It is literally the Wild Wild West of pieces of shit. It makes Jersey look good. Because Jersey folks mind their business usually. These fucks are predators looking for anything to fuck up.

[brassmonkey]

Originally Posted by escorpio

Why did I eat it or why was it horrible? I ate it because it was served. It was horrible because it was stringy, tough and gamey tasting.

you knew it was horse? was it serve at a home or resturant?

[escorpio]

Originally Posted by brassmonkey

you knew it was horse? was it serve at a home or resturant?

Friend's home. Yeah, I knew it was horse. I've eaten worse.

[sperbonzo]

Sounds like someone is really into the Paleo diet...

[WebCashMaker]

While eating horse meat is generally taboo in the U.S., it is common in dishes in some Caribbean and European countries.

Isn't horse meat sold in Canada also ?