More Gruesome Details Emerge From Horse-Slaughter Farms Raid by Palm Beach Authorities (Video)

More details have emerged in the raid of three Loxahatchee farms earlier this week after it was discovered that animals were being tortured and killed at those facilities. Videos used in the investigation, as well as arrest reports, reveal brutal animal abuse that went on at the farms. On Tuesday, Palm Beach County authorities raided the three farms after a several-months-long undercover investigation by the nonprofit group Animal Recovery Mission (ARM) revealed that the farms were slaughtering horses and selling their meat for consumption, as well as other accusations of rampant animal cruelty and abuse. 

In all, the raid produced six arrests, and authorities were able to seize 750 animals, including goats, pigs, chickens, ducks, dogs, and cats, among other animals. Authorities also seized fighting roosters from the farms.

Perhaps most heinous, however, are the videos shot by undercover ARM personnel, who befriended the farms and were given access to how they operated their slaughterhouses. The videos capture the torture of animals, including one that shows a goat having its throat slit by a ranch worker while another holds it by its hind legs. The goat screams in agony as a knife is plunged into its neck, its blood spilling onto the ground and its body writhing as death creeps in.

"The goat began bleeding profusely and continued struggling violently," says a PBSO arrest report on the video shot at GA Paso Fino. "It was obvious by the video that this animal was suffering unnecessarily and in excruciating pain."

The same video produced by ARM shows a puppy mill area where dogs are kept in a crate-like area in seemingly deplorable conditions. About eight dogs are kept in a fly- and excrement-infested pen and are left to share a small bin filled with water via a garden hose. Pigs are also kept in similarly deplorable pens, and the ARM video shows the killing of a pig when a farmer stabs it in the neck and lets it writhe around until it dies. 

(Warning: Video is extremely graphic and may be disturbing for some.)
 
ARM says the same farm also tortured and killed armadillos in cruel and unusual ways. 

"Killing is performed in the same manner as at Rancho Garcia along with the insane treatment of armadillos who get thrown directly into boiling water, alive," an ARM report says.

Another video, shot at Medina farms, shows a farmer inviting the undercover ARM member to watch a goat being slaughtered.

"Without rendering the goat insensitive to pain, Jose cuts into the goat's neck," the arrest report says. "The goat struggles and kicks violently, causing Monieram Rathibhan to grab its legs and hold it down."

The video also shows a cow being shot in the head with a .22 caliber rifle but not dying instantly. The cow falls from the wound and is then butchered alive by a farmer with a knife.

(Warning: Video is extremely graphic and may be disturbing for some.)


All three farms have been permanently shut down following Tuesday's raids. The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office says that six arrests were made, including Jorge Garcia, who is facing two counts of causing cruel death pain and suffering to animals and two counts of torment and deprivation. Rafael Ramirez, Jose Reyes, Monieram Rathibhan, and Edegar Bica have also been charged. 

The 750 animals seized from the farms have been placed in Animal Recovery Mission’s care.