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Categories: Horse News

Florida Man Sentenced to Five Years for Butchering Horses

In 2009, horse owners in south Florida were horrified by a string of thefts and brutal killings of privately-owned horses. Several horses were taken from their barns and pastures and slaughtered for their meat, which is valuable on the black market in Miami.



One of the people responsible, Santiago Cabrera, was sentenced on December 17 to five years in prison after admitting to stealing and butchering two horses. He told investigators that he had been paid $500 for the first horse and $900 for the second.



Cabrera had turned in then-18-year-old Luis Cordero in an attempt to cash in on the reward that had been offered for information on the killings. Cordero confessed to killing horses for their meat in September of 2009. His trial is currently scheduled for January.

According to a December 17 article in the Miami Herald, area horse owners were unhappy with the light sentence given to Cabrera. Five years was the maximum sentence possible under a plea bargain. Had he plead not guilty and gone to trial, he could have faced up to life in prison.

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  • Sadly, much like the dog murdering felon known as Michael Vick, this man will be out on the streets again in 12 months. Our judicial systems are WAY too lenient on criminals, whether they be rapists, animal or human murderers, terrorists, etc. I just hope he feels incapacitating, gut-wrenching, horrifying guilt whenever he sees another horse, much like the killer in "The Tell-Tale Heart"!

  • 5 years is way not enough!!!!!
    i mean he killed innocent horses!!!!
    whats wrong with this person!!! what does he have against horses how could someone kill these beautiful animals! what could drive a person to be so madly insane even if were for money!!! why or how could you kill these beautiful animals and not feel guilty!or horrible about about yourself! he should do a life sentence!!

  • that's too bad! i bet the owners were really upset! i know i would be! that's SICK! yes i hope he feels really bad every time he sees another horse!!!!!!!!!!!

  • At the Post Office we received a package that was leaking blood. I called the sender to find out what it was and she very calmly said 'horse meat'. She said she raised them to butcher and sent the meat to body builders.
    It was going to a student at NIU, DeKalb. I reported her to the Postal Inspectors.

  • Just another slap on the wrist! He'll be out in 2 1/2 years! When are they going to start making examples out of these people and sentence them to 20 or more years in prison?

  • This is horrible!!! I wanted to cry when i saw this!!!! Five years is not enough!!!!! Those guys must have had some nerve to steal and kill horses!!!!! Especially for money!!!! That is PATHETIC!!!!!!!

  • That makes me sick!!! how can any one look at a beautiful inocent animal and think theres dinner!!! he is sick!!! he deserves the life penalty!!

  • He deserves the life sentence ! ! ! I HATE horse slsughter ! It is so sad. Does anyone know how we can help stop horse slaughter ? If you do know how we can help, leave a comment and let me know. I REALLY want to do something to STOP this for good !

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