(Sept. 22) - A second arrest has been made in a recent spate of gruesome killings of at least 19 horses in Florida.
According to the Miami Herald, Santiago Cabrera, 19, of Hialeah, Fla., was picked up by police on Monday night and charged with armed burglary, animal cruelty, killing a registered breed horse and breaking a fence.
Skip over this content
http://xml.channel.aol.com/xmlpublisher/fetch.v2.xml?option=expand_relative_urls&dataUrlNodes=uiConfig,feedConfig,localizationConfig,entry&id=728018&pid=728017&uts=1253664506
http://www.aolcdn.com/ke/media_gallery/v1/ke_media_gallery_wrapper.swf
Horses Butchered
Since January, at least 19 horses have been killed in the Miami area. In February, a painted quarter horse named Geronimo, shown, was found tied to a tree, butchered, his remains hidden beneath palm fronds.
geronimosneigh.homestead.com
geronimosneigh.homestead.com
Police said Cabrera confessed to helping butcher two live horses. Horse meat is sold on the black market for as much as $40 per pound, according to CNN .
Equine meat brings such high prices because some people believe that consuming it can cure diseases like cancer and AIDS.
Cabrera's arrest follows that of 18-year-old Luis Miguel Cordero, who was picked up by police last week. Undercover police officers approached Cordero, who stands accused of killing a horse at Lazy L Ranch in North Maimi-Dade County, and offered him $2,000 to slaughter another horse. Cordero agreed and was promptly arrested, the paper said.
Animal protection groups such as the ASPCA point out that there is no evidence whatsoever to suggest that eating horse meat helps fight AIDS or cancer. South Florida's multicultural community, however, is made up of many residents who come from countries where it is customary to eat horse meat, CNN reported.
Skip over this content
