40,000 Horses Stolen Every Year Feared Sold for Meat...

Horse owners desperately search for their beloved stolen animals...The Leaf-Chronicle

"...'You could see where they were forced over the fence. People are in the business of stealing horses.'

A study done in the 1990s by Stolen Horses International reported more than 40,000 horses go missing each year.

'That's an alarming number of horses,' said Debi Metcalfe, director of a Web site based out of North Carolina that keeps track of lost and stolen horses. "People think that because a horse is so big they can't be stolen, but it happens all the time....'

What worries Jordan and other horse owners is that someone can steal a horse, fabricate paperwork and sell the horse at an auction, which can then be sold to a slaughter house for about 20 cents a pound. Although the use of horses for food is illegal in the United States, the meat is sold overseas to Europe and Japan for consumption and is considered a delicacy..."