Another Horse Found Dead in South Florida

MIAMI FLORIDA | Another horse has been found dead in South Florida.

More than a dozen horse killings have been reported, apparently at the hands of people butchering the animals for their meat.

The latest horse was found Sunday morning. A police report says its owner found the animal cut up and burned.

Earlier this month, a dead horse was found along a rural Miami road on the edge of the Everglades. Miami-Dade police say the horse had been mutilated.

Two horses were found slaughtered in a similar way in nearby Miramar several months ago. Authorities there also believe the horses were butchered for their meat.

Officials believe the meat is being sold on the black market since the sale of horse meat is illegal in the U.S.

No arrests have been made.

Because of the role horses have played as a companion and as a worker, it is a taboo food in many cultures. These historical associations, as well as ritual and religion, led to the development of the aversion to the consumption of horse meat. The horse is now given pet status by many in the western world, which further solidifies the taboo on eating its flesh. This avoidance of eating horse meat (and the loss of taste for it) is relatively modern, although it arises out of complex historical and cultural origins.

The killing of horses for human consumption is widely opposed in countries such as USA and Britain] where horses are generally considered to be companion and sporting animals only. French actress and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot has spent years crusading against the eating of horse meat. However, the opposition is far from unanimous; a 2007 readers' poll in the London magazine Time Out showed that 82% of respondents supported celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay's decision to serve horse meat in his restaurants (see further discussion here).

GORDON RAMSAY is to shatter the last taboo of English cuisine by urging the public to eat horse meat.

The controversial chef claims horse meat is tasty and nutritious and should be part of the British diet.

But his call for horses, long revered as farm and racing animals, to be turned into dinner has sparked revulsion among horse lovers, animal welfare campaigners and vegetarians. Even hardened meat eaters and fellow chefs said it was a dish too far.

The celebrity cook found support from some chefs, who said the meat-eating British were too sentimental about horses and hypocritical because they were happy to eat cows, sheep and pigs. But even they doubted whether horse would become popular.

Though nearly two years have passed since the last horse processing plant closed in the United States, horses continue being shipped from the United States to slaughterhouses in Mexico and Canada.

Looking at 2008 Department of Agriculture figures, close to 80,000 horses from the United States traveled to Mexico for slaughter and approximately 40,000 went to Canada. The estimated total of 120,000 is less than the 140,000 figure from 2007.

"That's still a tremendous amount of horses," said Dr. Timothy Cordes, a senior staff veterinarian for equine programs with the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. He also noted that the final numbers won't be available until the end of March. The USDA's numbers are based on the number of owner/shipper certificates corroborated with other sources.

"All of the American horses arrive in sealed trailers," Dr. Lenz said, noting that the horses aren't unloaded or sold anywhere, but go straight from the border to the plant. A federal seal is placed on the horses at the border. They are then shipped for 10 to 12 hours to one of the two federal inspection type, or TIF, plants in Zacatecas. "They say they could make it in eight hours but choose 10 to 12 because they arrive in better condition," Dr. Lenz said.

On arrival at the processing plant, a federal Mexican veterinarian cuts the seal. Any horses severely injured in transport are euthanized.