Two horses were found dead and cut into pieces. The remains were left on the side of the road.
Dianne Chilton found the gruesome remains and contacted the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. The remains were seen near 13th Street and Clark Avenue off of Williams Road.
Chilton was driving by when she spotted a swarm of buzzards surrounding the remains of two dead horses.
“It looked like someone took a chainsaw and just sawed these horses up. There were two heads [and] bodies. It was horrible.”, said Chilton.
The Lehigh Acres Gazette spoke to the sheriff’s office who tell us it appears no crime was committed. That’s because it’s legal for a horse owner to butcher the animal for meat — as long as they don’t sell it.
However, LCSO animal investigator Richard Couto says it’s a felony.
“We have so many crimes going on the people stealing horses and breaking into properties and slaughtering and butchering pet horses,” said Couto.
The horses’ bodies were found on private property. But Couto said, even if the owners of the horses did this, it’s illegal to possess horse meat in Florida or anywhere else in the United States.