MIAMI, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Florida authorities say they are investigating an alleged slaughterhouse from which an offspring of famed racehorse Secretariat was rescued Christmas Day.
The emaciated 4-year-old Thoroughbred, Dance Hall Graeme, had to be euthanized after it and another horse were picked up by its former trainer at a farm suspected of illegally slaughtering horses.
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel said Wednesday Miami-Dade police launched an investigation into the farm, which is suspected of being one of a number in the region that slaughter retired race horses and sell the meat on the black market.
"It brings in hundreds of thousands of dollars," said Richard Couto of the Animal Recovery Mission.
The Sun-Sentinel said Dance Hall Greaeme never lived up to his bloodline. The gelding never won a race and finished 35 lengths behind in his final start.
The horses were discovered by a former Calder Downs trainer who saw Dance Hall's photo in a Miami Herald expose about horse slaughtering.
