‘Prized’ Horse Stolen From Barn, Butchered

Because it’s illegal to slaughter horses for meat in Florida, the discovery of a “prized” horse’s butchered body, presumably for meat, horrified the community of Palmetto, Florida. Reports say that the horse, named Phedras de Blondel and used in equestrian competitions, was led from his barn home and carved up in a way that led investigators to think that this may have been the work of a professional butcher.

Authorities are now investigating this horse’s death as a case of cruelty to animals because of the condition in which the animal’s body was found, including with missing legs. While what happened to Phedras is very disturbing, many people don’t know that each year thousands of American horses face a similar fate.

Every year, more than 100,000 American horses are crammed into livestock trailers and trucked to slaughterhouses in Canada and Mexico—and we may again see slaughterhouses opening here in the U.S. Many of these horses are former companions or were used for sport and have been treated with drugs that are not safe for human consumption. No horse deserves a gruesome fate like that of Phedras and the thousands of others shipped to slaughter.

What You Can Do

You can help horses today by urging legislators to co-sponsor the Safeguard American Food Exports Act of 2015 and the John Rainey Memorial Safeguard American Food Exports Act, which would prevent horse slaughter in the U.S. and end the transport of American horses to foreign slaughterhouses.