MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A horse was found stabbed to death overnight in southwest Miami-Dade, Richard Couto, of the Animal Recovery Mission, confirmed.
Couto said the horse named Destiny was found dead at the San Blas Ranch at 16451 SW 197th Ave.
He said the barn on the property had been broken into and two other horses are now missing.
Destiny was a 13-year-old brown Paso Fino.
Her owner, Georgina Milhet, said she got a call Tuesday morning after someone came out to feed Destiny and found her dead.
Destiny had been stabbed and it appears that the culprits attempted to steal her, ARM officials said.
"She had her own personality," Milhet said. "(If) she didn't know you, she wouldn't let you touch her. So what they ended up doing was stabbing her, trying to get her down. She got away from them and went through the field and ended up back in her farm. She actually died on our property, where she bled out."
ARM officials believe the two other stolen horses were likely slaughtered for their meat to sell on the black market.
Rachel Taylor, of ARM, said this section of southwest Miami-Dade is known as the "killing field" because of the amount of animals that have been targeted there.
ARM officials said they are actively investigating the section of southwest Miami-Dade where the incident occurred as the search continues for the culprits.
The Miami-Dade Police Department's Agricultural Patrol Unit is also investigating the killing.
ARM is offering a $20,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for the horse's slaying.