Miami Cops Hunt Horse Killers

Miami police have a mystery on their hands. Someone, or a group of people, is slaughtering horses and making off with the meat, the AP reports. Since January, 17 horses have been found dead, their butchered bodies generally left by the roadside or in pastures. Animal rights groups believe the killers are selling the meat on the black market.

Police say they’ve heard “anecdotal evidence” of such a trade and are working to confirm or deny its existence. But an investigator for South Florida’s Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is confident the black market is thriving, with horse meat selling for $7-20 a pound. “South Florida is a melting pot,” he says. “These people grow up eating this meat. (More horses stories.)