3 ILLEGAL SLAUGHTERHOUSES - Miami
2015-10-13
RANCHO GARCIA FARM:
Garcia, Jorge
Ramirez, Rafael
G-A PASO FINO:
Guzman, Orlando
Bica Sr., Edgar
Bica Jr., Edgar
MEDINA FARM:
Unknown Owner, Jay
Reyes, Jose
Rathibhan, Monieram
Diaz, Rodobaldo
Pena Jr., Jose Guadalupe
Loxahatchee animal cruelty bust largest in U.S. history
Oct 13 2015
LOXAHATCHEE, Fla. - Authorities in Palm Beach County raided three illegal slaughterhouses Tuesday morning in Loxahatchee with the help of officials with the Animal Recovery Mission.
The operation resulted in the arrests of six slaughterhouse owners and employees. About 1,000 animals were found alive by rescuers.
Authorities said the owners were involved in the underground and illegal slaughter of horses and illegal sale of their meat for human consumption, and said the meat was sold from Palm Beach County to Miami.
Tuesday's raid was the largest tactical strike on extreme animal cruelty operations in U.S. history.
DISCLAIMER: Continued content includes graphic details from authorities about the raids.
One of the owners was identified as Jorge Garcia, who runs Rancho Garcia, 15703 Orange Blvd. Authorities said Garcia's customers have been traveling to Loxahatchee from the Miami area for decades and said Garcia purchases his horses from animal auctions and Craigslist.
Garcia is also accused of selling the animals for black magic and sacrificial purposes.
Authorities said undercover ARM investigators witnessed and captured footage of Garcia and his employees "selling large amounts of horse meat, violently stabbing pigs in the heart and boiling them alive, slitting throats of goats and rams before hoisting them by their hind legs then skinning them alive, and brutally stomping on ducks, slitting their throats and drowning them in their own blood."
Garcia also used a section of his farm to run a puppy mill, where he breeds and sells dogs, authorities said.
Garcia was arrested on two charges of causing cruel death to conservation animals and two counts of torment, deprivation, mutilation or killing of conservation animals. His bond was set at $6,000.
In addition, Rafael Ramirez was arrested in connection with the Rancho Garcia raid. He is charged with the selling, buying and possession of horsemeat without a stamp, causing cruel death to conservation animals and torment, deprivation, mutilation or killing of conservation animals. His bond was set at $9,000.
G.A. Paso Fino, 14873 Collecting Canal Road was also raided and shut down Tuesday.
Authorities said the property is used for the training, breeding and selling of horses for slaughter, and is owned by Orlando Guzman.
Guzman rents part of the land in the back of the property to Edgar Sr. Bica and Edgar Jr. Bica, who are also accused of running an illegal slaughterhouse.
ARM investigators said the men supplied horse meat on the black market in the Loxahatchee and greater Wellington areas for decades, and tortured and slaughtered chickens, pigs and goats.
Investigators said the men killed the animals the same way as Garcia and said they would also throw live armadillos into boiling water.
Investigators said a puppy mill was being operated on the site, and the dogs were contained in small cages "riddled with excrement and rust and no water available."
Cock fighting roosters were also discovered on the property.
Edgar Bica Sr. and Edgar Bica Jr. were both charged with causing cruel death to conservation animals and torment, deprivation, mutilation or killing of conservation animals. Their bonds were both set at $3,000 each.
Records on Guzman have not yet been released.
The final slaughterhouse raided Tuesday was Medina Farm, 2151 C. Road.
Authorities said the farm is legally incorporated, but claim the owner Jay and his employee, Jose Reyes, have been illegally slaughtering and torturing animals on their farm for decades.
Reyes was arrested and charged with causing cruel death to conservation animals, threatening to kill or harm horses or cattle and torment, deprivation, mutilation or killing of conservation animals. His bond was set at $11,000.
"ARM investigators have witnessed and documented extreme acts of animal cruelty such as, slitting goat's necks while they are restrained on their backs, forced to suffocate in their own blood, as well as slitting and severing the throats of cows with extremely dull blades before hoisting them by their hind legs and skinning them alive, often dragging out their death for over 20 minutes," authorities said.
Medina Farm's customers largely consisted of Muslims "who bought animals to be slaughtered for human consumption and ritualistic sacrifice," authorities said.
Reports also show that a man named Monieram Rathibhan, 58, was arrested Tuesday and charged with causing cruel death to conservation animals, threatening to kill or harm horses or cattle and torment, deprivation, mutilation or killing of conservation animals. His bond was set at $9,000.
Authorities said approximately 750 animals were seized, including goats, pigs, cattle, numerous species of birds, dogs, cats and fighting roosters.
Seized animals taken to Palm Beach County Animal Care & Control
Oct 13, 2015
LAXAHATCHEE, Fla. - The western communities are reacting after hearing hundreds of these animals were abused, tortured and slaughtered.
Mostly horses for their meat.
Some of the animals confiscated in Tuesday's raid, are being held at Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control.
While others are headed to the Animal Recovery Mission Sanctuary.
People who live next to where the raids happened are shocked and disgusted to learn about the alleged inhumane killings.
Diane Grenier watched as law enforcement and ARM investigators raided her neighbors farm.
"Things were being said in another language and swat team was here, sheriff's all over the place," she said.
Grenier's mom has lived next to G-A Paso Fino farm on Collecting Canal Road for about thirty years.
Deputies said it's one of three farms in Loxahatchee Groves, busted for being an illegal slaughter house.
Investigators said workers were killing horses and selling the meat illegally.
Rescuers also said puppy mills and dog fights were happening at two of the farms.
Grenier said, "This happens right next to you and you don't even know. I had no idea this was going on really."
But neighbors living near Rancho Garcia farms on Orange Blvd., tell a different story.
"You're a liar if you didn't know. How could you not know when you hear the animals cry," said Debbie Hogg.
"You could smell that flesh burning. You're going into Publix to get dinner for your family and you smell that lingering smell."
Hogg has made numerous complaints in the past.
"What do you tell little kids when they drive by here and they see all the cute animals out front one day. The next day the animals are gone," she said. "Now they're closing their doors and I pray it's for good."
ARM president said animals taken to the sanctuary will not be adopted out.
No word yet if the animals at the ACC can be adopted.
Animal cruelty investigation results in 6 arrests & seizure of 750 animals, sheriff's office says
3 farms slaughtering horses for meat, group says
Oct 13, 2015
LOXAHATCHEE, Fla. - An animal cruelty investigation resulted in six arrests Tuesday and the seizure of about 750 animals, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's office.
Chopper 5 recorded police activity at property in the Loxahatchee area.
An organization called Animal Recovery Mission issued a news release stating that the activity is a raid on three animal slaughter farms and horse meat operations.
ARM staff members said the owners of three farms: Rancho Garcia, G-A Paso Fino and Medina Farm have been slaughtering horses to sell their meat.
ARM's president Richard Couto says the agency witnessed grisly acts of brutality against animals. "There are dead animals throughout the property. There's meat throughout the property. There are sick animals. Possibly diseased animals."
He says horses were being butchered for their meat. “Horses were being bought from the show horse communities throughout Wellington, from thoroughbred racetracks, from auctions, from Craigslist," Couto said.
ARM describes itself as an investigative animal welfare organization and said it is working with the sheriff's office and Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control.
The sheriff's office has confirmed it is assisting with the ARM investigations.
The animals seized include goats, pigs, cattle, numerous species of birds, dogs, cats and fighting roosters, the sheriff's office said.
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is part of an Agricultural Task Force and says it took part in Tuesday’s investigation at the request of the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
Lee County said it is assisting with the transportation and recovery of multiple animals which were seized.
Operation G.A. Paso Fino
October 13th, 2015
On July 4th ARM began short range surveillance on a property suspected of torturing and slaughtering animals for the purpose of selling their meat to the public.
Located just minutes outside of Wellington, one of Florida’s most prestigious equestrian towns, the illegal animal slaughter farm (titled as G.A Paso Fino Farms by ARM investigators) was quickly infiltrated by undercover investigators who posed as customers and spent several months witnessing, documenting and exposing the heinous crimes that were being committed on the property, owned by Orlando Guzman.
In addition to the slaughter operation, Guzman had also been operating a Paso Fino breeding and training business. However during ARM’s undercover buys, it was revealed that the horses were also falling victim to being slaughtered and sold for human consumption. Paso Fino farm employees, Edgar Snr Bicca, Edgar Jnr. Bicca and another ‘John Doe’ employee slaughtered and sold horse meat, an action considered to be a third degree felony in the state of Florida. The duo were not only selling horse meat locally but spread into the underground market of the greater Miami area.
Aside the illegal and inhumane slaughtering of animals and horses, investigators also witnessed some of the cruelest forms of brutality against the animals being kept on the farm. As occurs on many illegal slaughter farms, the methods to butcher the animals was executed in some of the most imaginable fashions. These were not limited to ARM documenting three employees ruthlessly grabbing and dragging goats to the kill area where they continued to slit the animals throat slowly with an extremely dull blade, letting them bleed out for several minutes before hoisting them upside down and skinning them whilst they were still clinically alive and not insensible to pain.
Pigs were also documented to being shot in the head with a 22 caliber rifle, one which is not considered to be a humane or instantaneous death for the pig. This was often followed several minutes later with having their throats slit by foot long dull blades and being bled out, thrashing in agony and enduring prolonged and painful deaths, often times being drowned to death whilst still alive. Employees also bragged about how they killed Armadillos by throwing them directly into boiling water without even being stunned first.
The owner and employees of G.A Paso Fino Farm have a reputation in Palm Beach County as not only being butchers but also as being suppliers of horse meat for both human consumption as a delicacy and to serve the purpose of medicinal purposes and even to treat sexual performance in men.
The state of the animals conditions upon the G.A Paso Fino farm are without a doubt some of the most deplorable conditions. Animals are deprived of water, feed and medical treatment and many of the animals are not only living in extreme filth but are also forced to feed off one another.
All of these crimes against animals and atrocities were documented and collected throughout ARM’s investigations were documented and presented to the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s office, as well as State and Federal enforcement agencies, USDA, State and Federal environmental agencies and PBC animal services department. Due to ARM’s investigations and the collaboration with the above agencies, G.A Paso Fino Farms was raided at daybreak on October 13th, 2015.
This also included simultaneous raids on two other properties (Garcia Farm and Medina Farm), just moments away from Paso Fino’s location, spurring the second largest task force animal cruelty rescue and strike in the United States.
Animal Recovery Mission raids Rancho Garcia
Oct 13, 2015
LOXAHATCHEE, Fla. —Animal Recovery Mission investigators said they busted Rancho Garcia after a 6-month-long undercover operation, but neighbors said there was nothing secret about the smells and screams coming from the Loxahatchee farm.
"Oh, you smelled flesh burning and you heard the animals crying," said longtime Loxahatchee resident Debbie Hogg.
Hogg watched law enforcement officials raid the Orange Boulevard facility Tuesday afternoon. She lives down the street from what she described as a house of horrors.
"The pigs squealed so bad. You ever heard a pig squeal?" she asked. "It's so sad. They sound like people. They sound like kids screaming."
Palm Beach sheriff's deputies, Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control and the ARM raided Rancho Garcia, one of three farms busted in Palm Beach County in the same day.
All three are accused of illegal horse slaughter and selling.
ARM founder Richard Couto claimed Rancho Garcia has strong ties to the black-market horse meat trade in Miami.
According to Couto, horses are bought and butchered in Loxahatchee, along with goats and pigs, all for human consumption or even darker purposes.
"They're selling animals for black magic ritualistic sacrifices, anything and everything these guys can do to make a buck off the torture of an animal, they'll do it," said Couto.
Rancho Garcia had been in operation for decades. The property is owned by Jorge Garcia.
Tuesday afternoon PBSO had not confirmed whether Garcia had been arrested in the raid.
Defendants in alleged slaughterhouse raids appear in court
Oct 14, 2015
LOXAHATCHEE, Fla. —Three of the six people arrested in a massive, multi-agency raid on three farms appeared in court Wednesday.
Jose Reyes, Edgar Bica and Monieram Rathibhan were charged with animal cruelty Tuesday.
Two others -- Jorge Garcia, who is the owner of Rancho Garcia, and an employee, Rafael Ramirez -- had already bonded out and did not appear in court. A sixth defendant, Edgar Bica Sr., also did not appear.
Arrest documents indicated that undercover video of Garcia taken by Animal Rescue Mission investigators in August showed Garcia and an employee named Rafael hanging a goat upside down by its back legs, the employee then stabs it in the throat with a dull knife.
While the struggling goat was still alive, the report said the employee began cutting away its skin.
The arrest report also detailed another undercover video, which it said showed Garcia shooting a goat with a .22-caliber gun, which didn't kill it. In that instance, the report said Garcia's employee then went on to stab that goat to death, too.
According to detectives, a veterinarian who viewed the video stated the practices on Garcia's farm were "inhumane, primitive and frankly disgusting."
The arrest report for Ramirez charged him with the illegal possession of horse meat, alleging he sold packaged meat to an undercover buyer for $40.
Arrest reports for the operators of GA Paso Fino and Medina Farm also charged them with animal cruelty for slaughtering cattle and other animals inhumanely.
Authorities seized 766 animals from all three farms and took most to Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control, which hastily erected temporary pens.
"This was a pretty big deal for our county," Capt. David Walesky said.
Walesky said donations are requested for fencing material to help build new pens for the pigs, cows and chickens.
Seventh man arrested in Loxahatchee animal cruelty case
Oct. 22, 2015
A seventh man has been arrested in connection with alleged animal cruelty at three Loxahatchee farms.
Rodobaldo Diaz, of West Palm Beach, faces four charges of animal cruelty. He was arrested Tuesday afternoon and released from the Palm Beach County Jail later that day after posting a $6,000 bond.
Six other men were arrested Oct. 13 after the Miami-based animal rights group Animal Recovery Mission (ARM) said it found that three local farms were illegally slaughtering horses and boiling live pigs, among other acts of cruelty against animals.
Using hidden cameras, ARM investigators filmed the alleged slaughter of animals at Rancho Garcia, 15703 Orange Blvd.; G.A. Paso Fino, 14873 Collecting Canal Road; and Medina Farm, 2151 C Road.
Diaz, 47, worked at the G.A. Paso Fino farm. Diaz listed his occupation as butcher on a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s arrest report.
Undercover ARM investigators filmed Diaz, who is known as “Baldy”, assisting in the slaughter of goats, the report said. On Aug. 14, Diaz was filmed holding a goat as co-defendant Edgar Bica cut the animal’s throat with a very dull knife, according to the arrest report. Before the animal died, it’s legs were punctured so it could be hanged on meat hooks, the report said.
A veterinarian who viewed the video at the request of PBSO said the animal likely died by suffocating in its own blood.
A similar slaughter of a goat took place on Sept. 2, according to the report. Diaz allegedly dragged the goat to the slaughter area by one of its back legs and then by its horn. The veterinarian told PBSO that the goat showed signs of life as it was hoisted onto meat hooks then skinned.
Eighth arrest made in Loxahatchee slaughterhouse investigation
Oct. 30, 2015
LOXAHATCHEE — Another man was arrested on animal cruelty charges in connection to a farm in Loxahatchee raided recently after allegations of the illegal horse slaughter. He is eighth person apprehended in the investigation.
Detectives say Jose Guadalupe Pena Jr., 35, was seen in a video involved in the “inhumane” slaughter of a goat, the arrest affidavit states. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office launched an investigation and subsequent raids of three Loxahatchee slaughterhouses in early September after a Miami-based animal rights group alleged that the local farms were slaughtering horses and illegally selling their meat.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed there have been arrests made at the three farms in Loxahatchee.
The animal rights group, Animal Recovery Mission, used hidden cameras to film the slaughter practices at the farms. The videos were turned over the the sheriff’s office and released online.
Detectives say Pena is seen in one of the goat slaughter videos with two other employees — Jorge Luis Garcia, 48, and Rafael Ramirez, 50 — who were arrested Sept. 4.
Detectives showed the video to a veterinarian who said the practices were “inhumane, primitive and frankly disgusting,” the report states. The police reports describe several incidents where the animals at the Loxahatchee farms went through “unnecessary pain.”
Pena was an employee at Rancho Garcia Farm in Loxahatchee owned by Garcia, the sheriff’s office reports. Police confirmed in September that meat purchased from the farm contained antibodies from horses.
As per a horse protection law passed in 2010, it is a felony to kill, maim or mutilate a horse. Ramirez is only one of the eight men arrested who faces charges of buying and selling horse meat, police say.
Other than Garcia and Ramirez, four others — Edeger Bica, 83; Jose Reyes, 38; Monieram Rathibhan, 58; and Edgar Bica, 49 — were arrested Sept. 4 on animal cruelty charges.
Another man, Rodobaldo Diaz, 47, of West Palm Beach, was arrested Oct. 20 on four counts of animal cruelty.
The sheriff’s office raided three Loxahatchee farms: Rancho Garcia, 15703 Orange Blvd.; G.A. Paso Fino, 14873 Collecting Canal Road; and Medina Farm, 2151 C Road.
Following the raids, Animal Care Control seized 766 animals, including goats, sheep, cows, chickens, roosters, pigs and dogs, from the three farms.
Pena was released from Palm Beach County Jail Wednesday on $3,000 bail. Of the other seven arrested, all have been released from county jail but Edgar Bica, records show.
One of 8 charged in Loxahatchee horse slaughtering pleads guilty
Nov. 6, 2015
One of eight men arrested last month in connection with what authorities called an illegal horse-slaughtering operation in Loxahatchee pleaded guilty Friday to a felony charge of cruelty to animals.
Speaking through a Spanish interpreter, Edgar Bica, 49, admitted his involvement in the scheme, which was uncovered when a Miami-based animal rights group filmed workers slaughtering horses and boiling live pigs at three farms in Loxahatchee.
Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Samantha Schosberg-Feuer sentenced Bica to five months in jail, giving him credit for the 25 days he has already spent in the Palm Beach County jail. She ordered him to spend a year on house arrest and another two years on probation.
While on probation, he is prohibited from owning any animals, other than his hunting dogs. He is further prohibited from being at G.A. Paso Fino Farms, one of the three farms where horses were being slaughtered, according to film shot by members of the group, Animal Recovery Mission.
Earlier this year, Bica was convicted of two charges of animal cruelty after police discovered he had not treated a hunting dog that had been gored by a hog and was near death. The officer also discovered an emaciated goat on his property, according to court records.
Charges against the seven others, some who face multiple charges of animal cruelty, are pending. After shutting down the operation at G.A. Paso Fino Farm, Rancho Garcia and Medina Farm, Palm Beach County Animal Care Control seized 766 animals including goats, sheep, cows, chickens, roosters, pigs and dogs.
Activist Infuriated That Prosecutor "Sabotaged" the Case
November 12, 2015
At the time of their arrests, authorities told the media that the Bicas had tortured and slaughtered chickens, pigs, and goats and thrown live armadillos into boiling water. Evidence of cock fighting and a puppy mill was also cited.
The men were charged with causing cruel death to conservation animals and torment, deprivation, mutilation or killing of conservation animals. Rodobaldo Diaz was arrested because he had been seen on video helping kill a goat with a dull knife and hoist another on hooks to be skinned while it was still alive.
In court last Friday, the men admitted killing cows and goats but explained that their methods of slaughtering animals were standard in their native countries. Florida law, however, requires that animals be killed humanely.
After their hearing, prosecutor Judy Arco was quoted in the Post saying, “There’s absolutely not a single video, not any single piece of evidence, that horse slaughter occurred on any of these three farms,” she said. The Post also wrote that she said there was no evidence that pigs had been boiled alive or that any other animals had been abused.
When three Loxahatchee farms — Rancho Garcia, G.A. Paso Fino, and Medina Farm — were closed after a massive raid involving about 150 police officers on October 13, it was said to be the largest bust for animal cruelty in U.S. history.
Animal-rights activists with the group Animal Recovery Mission worked undercover for five months to infiltrate the operations. As its leader, Richard "Kudo" Couto, explained to New Times, he befriended farm owners and operators and caught their actions on video. He says farm workers boiled pigs alive, dragged a cow behind a truck, and regularly slaughtered horses for meat.
The resulting takedown was an unusual feat of cooperation between the private entity, which showed police its evidence, and the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office, which organized the raid to take place simultaneously at three farms. Some 750 animals were taken from the farms, and the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office, led by Dave Aronberg, would ultimately bring charges against eight people. When those charges came, Couto was slightly disappointed that some of the men had been charged with or two felonies each when he felt seven would have been justified, and he also was dismayed that bail set for them was low — but still, he was glad they'd been taken down. He said Sheriff Ric Bradshaw was a "hero."
So when Couto read the Palm Beach Post last Saturday and saw that three of the eight men who'd been arrested had already taken plea deals, he was baffled. Usually, when his organization works on a case, he becomes the main witness and is notified in plea deal talks. And pleas usually take closer to a year to work out.
But Couto says he got no notification before Edgar Bica, 49, was sentenced to five months in the Palm Beach County Jail, with probation to follow, while Bica's father, Edegar Bica, 83, and Rodobaldo Diaz, 47, both received probation in return for admissions of animal cruelty. The men worked at Paso Fino farm.
At the time of their arrests, authorities told the media that the Bicas had tortured and slaughtered chickens, pigs, and goats and thrown live armadillos into boiling water. Evidence of cock fighting and a puppy mill was also cited.
The men were charged with causing cruel death to conservation animals and torment, deprivation, mutilation or killing of conservation animals. Rodobaldo Diaz was arrested because he had been seen on video helping kill a goat with a dull knife and hoist another on hooks to be skinned while it was still alive.
In court last Friday, the men admitted killing cows and goats but explained that their methods of slaughtering animals were standard in their native countries. Florida law, however, requires that animals be killed humanely.
After their hearing, prosecutor Judy Arco was quoted in the Post saying, “There’s absolutely not a single video, not any single piece of evidence, that horse slaughter occurred on any of these three farms,” she said. The Post also wrote that she said there was no evidence that pigs had been boiled alive or that any other animals had been abused.
"I thought she was misquoted," Couto says. "She had an extremely solid case handed to her on a silver platter and turned it into a joke... They're selling out the main witnesses in an ongoing case. Why would you do that? Other than wanting to sabotage your own case? She has deliberately sabotaged the case by comments she has made in court and to the press."
A spokesperson for the State Attorney's Office says staff members are refraining from comment because related cases remain open.
Couto says Arco is wrong. "On the day of the raid, there was pounds and pounds of horse meat found at Paso Fino — in freezers and refrigerators." He says he had meat samples tested by a lab.
He sent copies of documents related to Garcia Farms:
The Post story suggested that Arco could not prove that seized horse meat had come from the farms, though.
"Two arrests have been made [for that]," Couto says. "We have given her hours of conversation while these people are cutting up horses in front of us. Videos are in her possession. These farms are well-known in the community. On the day of the strike, they didn't find carcasses, but they get rid of that as soon as they slaughter the animals," Couto explains.
Arco's words stung. Couto says. "She's basically discrediting ARM as an investigator in Palm Beach. She basically called us almost — not in so many words — but liars. I've never had a prosecutor in his or her own cases discredit an organization when we are the main witnesses."
In Palm Beach, though, Couto says, "I'm sad for the animals that suffered — they got no justice whatsoever."
They were probably abused for decades and the perpetrators got "less than a slap on the wrist. It shows that the laws are being disregarded in that county."
The lax prosecution "really was a slap in the face to ARM investigators," Couto says. "We were in there for five months. We left really no loopholes. Watch the video. Law enforcement took he right steps. These were solid cases on their end.
"It sends a strong message to the people committing these crimes. They think, 'We're making so much money — if we get arrested, we're just going to face a slap on the wrist like our buddies do.' It's a shameful thing for the animals in that county and for animal lovers in that county."
Couto says he's rallying the animal-rights community to contact the State Attorney's Office —"Dave Aronberg is supposedly an animal-rights guy," as evidenced in instances where he's brought strong charges against people who hurt dogs. Couto says the California-based Animal Legal Defense Fund will also bring pressure. He's also started a petition calling for maximum penalties to be brought.
It says:
Violent offenders on these farms would harshly and inhumanly drag animals to the kill areas, shoot them in the head with small .22 caliber rifles, slowly sever their throats with extremely dull blades, insert meat hooks in their legs while still alive before hanging them upside down, skin them alive, and boil them alive. Cows, goats, sheep, chickens, ducks, geese, wildlife and even HORSES have all been victims to these criminals who have ruthlessly killed animals on these farms for decades. Not only are the ways in which these animals killed without a doubt inhumane, but ulitimtely primitive and sickening.
Florida statute states “no person shall kill an animal in any way except by an approved humane method.” It also mentions that “no person shall shackle or hoist with intent to kill any animal prior to rendering the animal insensitive to pain.”
Maybe the farm workers can still be charged with additional felonies, Couto hopes, and maybe the defendants whose cases are still pending will face more severe punishment.
"I am hoping this will show as an example to Arco," Couto says. "The public, and certainly ARM, will not stand for a light plea deal."
Jury out in slaughter farm trial
Animal cruelty trial began Tuesday for Jorge Garcia
UPDATED 6:45 PM EDT Mar 29, 2016
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. —The jury is out in the trial of a farm owner caught on undercover camera slaughtering goats in an allegedly inhumane way.
Jorge Garcia's farm in Loxahatchee was one of three properties raided last year by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, following undercover recordings by a Miami-based animal rights group called Animal Recovery Mission.
The woman who secretly recorded the slaughter of goats at Rancho Garcia took the stand Tuesday.
The woman, who did not want her identity revealed, testified she was paid by ARM to buy goats for slaughter at Rancho Garcia. The woman and another ARM member recorded the slaughter with cameras hidden in a watch, water bottle and a car alarm "clicker," the woman said.
At the time of the raid, ARM claimed horses were being slaughtered and animals tortured. After reviewing the case, the State Attorney's Office told WPBF 25 News there wasn't any evidence of horses being slaughtered on the farm.
Garcia ended up being charged with slaughtering goats in an inhumane way.
ARM has continued to call Garcia a "well known horse killer" that sells animals for "black magic purposes."
In an exclusive interview with WPBF 25 News in December, Garcia claimed ARM and its founder Richard "Kudo" Couto were seeking publicity and donations by making sensational and unfounded allegations.
In their closing argument, prosecutors argued the goats were killed in a cruel and painful way by having their throats cut while being hoisted up by their legs.
Garcia's defense attorney argued that the goats were killed for food by the request of undercover ARM members, and the slaughter of livestock can seem graphic to the average person.
The jury will reconvene Wednesday morning to deliberate.
Garcia's attorney has argued the undercover recordings were illegal because they were recorded on Garcia's private property without his knowledge and the ARM members lied to gain access.
Loxahatchee man guilty of four counts of animal cruelty
Mar 30, 2016
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - A jury on Wednesday found Jorge Garcia guilty on all four counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty charges following a raid at a farm in Loxahatchee last October.
The jury lessened two of the charges to misdemeanors from felonies.
The animals seized include goats, pigs, cattle, numerous species of birds, dogs, cats and fighting roosters, the sheriff's office said. There were also accusations that horses were being butchered for their meat.
Garcia was taken into custody after the verdict. Sentencing is scheduled to begin April 26.
The sentencing for illegal slaughter farm owner Jorge Garcia has been determined
2016-04-26
The sentencing for illegal slaughter farm owner Jorge Garcia has been determined…
The judge has sentenced Jorge Garcia to 364 days in jail with no eligibility of house arrest. Once out of jail, he will not be allowed ownership of animals, cannot slaughter animals or reside with anyone who has animals. He will take a mandatory 10 hour training course of the humane treatment of animals. Garcia will not be allowed to carry or posses firearms and will receive random inspections from law enforcement.
Kudo of ARM states "Cases involving farm animals are usually overlooked, this is an extremely important case and has created case law for further investigations moving forward"
The judge stated that the conditions on the farm were deplorable and other animals besides the ones displayed in evidence for the jury, were tortured and brutalized as well. I don't know if you (Garcia) will ever change but you need to start taking responsibility for your actions.
Garcia was taken straight into custody and will be held in Palm Beach County court for the remaining of his sentence.
This is a huge Victory for ARM and ARM extends a huge thank you to Animal Care and Control, the Palm Beach County Sheriffs Department and above all the State Attorneys, Judy Arco and Jo Wolinsky.
Loxahatchee man sentenced for animal cruelty
April 26th 2016
picture by PALM BEACH COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE
A judge has sentenced Jorge Garcia who was found guilty on misdemeanor animal cruelty charges following a raid at a farm in Loxahatchee last October.
During his trial hidden camera video was the state's key piece of evidence. It showed workers at Rancho Garcia hanging goats upside down and cutting their necks.
Prosecutors said the video showed the animals suffering and that the slaughters were inhumane.
During the raid, Garcia was one of six people taken into custody that resulted in the seizure of 750 animals.
The animals seized include goats, pigs, cattle, birds, dogs, cats and fighting roosters, the sheriff's office said.
The judge sentenced Garcia to 364 days behind bars with credit for time served followed by a year of probation.
Conditions of his probation include no possession of animals.
Slaughterhouse owner sentenced to 364 days in jail
April 26th 2016
PALM BEACH COUNTY (CBS12) — A former Loxahatchee slaughterhouse operator has been sentenced to 364 days in jail.
Last month, a jury found Jorge Garcia guilty of two misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty, and two other misdemeanor counts of inhumanely killing animals.
Garcia was the first to go on trial, since the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office raided three animal slaughterhouses in the Loxahatchee area, this past fall.
The sentence will be followed by one year of probation.
