3 Arrests At Alleged Illegal Slaughter Farm Near Homestead
HOMESTEAD (CBSMiami) – Three people were arrested and charged with animal cruelty Friday after law enforcement officials raided an alleged illegal slaughterhouse in the Homestead area.
According to the State Attorney's Office, state and local law enforcement served arrest warrants at the VIP Animal Sales farm, located at SW 257th Street and Krome Avenue.
Andre Pablo Martinez was charged with three counts of animal cruelty. Bond was set at $22,500. Daniel Lombana was charged with two counts of animal cruelty and bond was set at $15,000. Juan Bazan was charged with one count of animal cruelty and bond was set at $5,000.
Law enforcement officials were acting on information, including a gruesome video, which undercover activists with the Animal Recovery Mission had gathered during the past several months.
According to the State Attorney's Office, a pig, sheep and rabbit were sold and butchered at the scene and undercover video recorded the crime.
The farm sells animals including pigeons, turkey, chickens, rabbits, guinea hens, turtles, ducks and goats, according to a sign on the front of the property.
"The cruel dispatching of these animals at an illegal slaughterhouse is exactly what the Florida Legislature wanted to end when it created the animal cruelty statute," commented Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. "Such unnecessary brutality demeans not just the people who do it, but those who would stand by and let it happen. The people of this community, the Miami-Dade Police Department and the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office will not let this happen."
The South Florida Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals also removed one horse, with serious hoof damage.
