When county Animal Care and Control officers sifted through two sealed garbage bags from a Loxahatchee canal, they came upon a gruesome discovery. Now they are investigating the county’s first case of horse slaughtering. Inside the bags, sealed with storm ties, were a horse’s head, legs and hooves. Because body parts that would contain meat, including the horse’s tongue, were removed, it’s likely the horse was killed for food. The horse appears to be younger than 12 years of age and it appeared that the horse’s throat was severed, said the department’s director Dianne Suave. “We had hoped we’d never see this in our community,” Suave said while pointing out that this is the first time the department has investigated a slaughtering of a horse. While the issue of slaughtering hasn’t been a major problem in Palm Beach County, it has come up often in Miami-Dade and sometimes Broward counties. In the mid 2000s horses were being taken from the racetracks and brought into residents’ backyards for slaughtering. “It’s backyard slaughtering,” Jennifer Swanson, with Pure Thoughts Horse Rescue in Wellington, said. “This horse meat situation is a real black market type of thing.” Animal care and control officers were alerted Monday by a resident who saw “suspicious bags” in a canal in the area of 180th Avenue and 32nd Street. Because of poor lighting and the hazardous condition, the department hired a contractor, who removed the bags Tuesday morning. The horse did not have any identifying marks or lip tattoos which is making it difficult for investigators to track down the slaughterer. “We know that every animal has a story to tell,” Suave said. “And it’s up to us to figure it out …” Swanson said those in the horse community are talking about the finding and hope this can raise awareness of the problem. “Unfortunately it’s been pretty common down here in South Florida,” Swanson said. In the mid-2000s, horses were being taken from racetracks in South Florida for food. “It’s backyard slaughtering,” Swanson said. “This horse meat situation is a real black-market type of thing.” Meanwhile, Swanson says she takes time to protect the 47 horses on her farm. She said horse slaughterers also use Craigslist, posing as a potential buyer. “It’s up to the horse community to keep our horses safe,” she said. Swanson said laws surrounding horse slaughtering need to be improved upon and are not “strict” enough. According to Florida law, it is illegal to “willfully” or “unlawfully” kill or cause great bodily injury to a horse. If a person is convicted of that crime, he faces a minimum of one year in prison and a $3,500 fine, Suave said. As long as “livestock” is slaughtered by humane methods, however, the killing is legal, according to the Humane Slaughter Act. Florida law also says that selling horse meat for human consumption is legal as long as the meat is clearly stamped and labeled as such.

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Source: PalmBeachPost.com http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/crime-law/bags-containing-horse-remains-found-in-loxahatchee/nYHqP/