SEFFNER, FL -With the state on alert already due to the previous stolen and butchered horses, this case has a urgency unlike any in the past. Could these horses be next? Can these hoses be saved before it is too late?
It is not the first time nor will it be the last time that horses are stolen in plain site of unknowing bystander. The thieves and horses are gone but they valuable insight on the theft these five horses.
The thieves pulled up a fence post, cut the fence and released two horses of their own to help them corral eight others that were grazing in the pasture. The thieves then drove through the fence, loaded the horses, came back through and re-tied the fence to make it look like the fence was still up.
A witness watched the scene unfold; unaware they were stealing the animals.
The incident took place in the 7400 block of Williams Road on September 5, 2009. Two men, one described as tall and slender, the other chunky with a goatee, worked with a heavyset blond woman as they talked with a neighbor who thought didn’t know they were stealing the horses.
The thieves were able to drive away with five horses, two of which are listed with Stolen Horse International, aka NetPosse.com., in a truck described as a new model maroon Dodge Dully. It was pulling a green combo stock trailer which may have a white canvas top.
Sundance, a 1,300-pound palomino gelding and Shilo, a brown Paintaloosa mare with four white stockings were stolen from a family living in Lutz, FL. Shilo, also has white in the front half of her body a blanket with small brown spots on her rear.
An IDAHO Alert has been issued for Sundance and Shilo with a link to a customized webpage and flyer that can be printed at www.netposse.com. NetPosse.com recommends tack and feed stores, auction barns, restaurants, and convenience stores; in short, anywhere that area people, and potential witnesses, congregate.
Authorities also say a dark brown Shetland pony stallion with a flaxen mane and tail, a paint mare with white with sorrel shields and a dark bay mare with an injured hip and a limp were also stolen.
In a note sent to Stolen Horse International, an unconfirmed tip stated that the truck, trailer and horses were seen traveling in the Miami-Dade area.
The remains of 17 horses have been found since January in Miami-Dade County, many slaughtered and abandoned on or near rural roads. In May, two horses were found in a field in Miramar. This week another horse was found butchered in his stall on a ranch in Miami Gardens, Fl.
None of the cases in either county has been solved. Could this case be connected to the butchered animals or a random act of thievery?
Stolen Horse International is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. SHI was founded in 1998 by Debi Metcalfe after she and her family spent nearly a year trying to locate Idaho, their Paint mare. Idaho was recovered when a flyer they had posted at a convenience store resulted in the tip they needed.
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