Illegal Florida Slaughterhouses Fear Richard

Equine Rescue

By R.T. Fitch on June 6, 2010 • ( 42 Comments )

Story by Investigative Equine Welfare Advocate – Simone Netherlands

And Then a Hero Came Along

Rescued Freedom's Flight and Richard "Kudo" Couto

His nickname is “Kudo”, his real name Richard Couto. His self made occupation, hero for the animals. Perhaps you have heard of him already. I had been following his progress for months and noticed he got quite a bit done in short periods of time. The CNN segments kept coming on his ARM (Animal Recovery Mission) website. I invited myself for a visit to see about the illegal horse slaughter business in Florida and how he was single-handedly combating it.

Most of us reading this (fantastic) blog are pretty busy doing what we can, whatever we can think of, petitions, protesting, calling faxing emailing, blogging tweeting and facebooking our compassionate hearts out. (not to mention the ones spending their life savings on making documentaries, documenting and reporting on cruelty, rescuing horses directly, and many donating to the commendable organizations taking action.)

This year it seems that slowly but surely we are gaining some momentum and I think I can see the train come into motion and leaving the station inch by inch. Much like our own movement to stand up for horses, wild and domestic, there are also movements gaining momentum in standing up against the clubbing of baby seals, the slaughtering of whales and dolphins, bear bile farming, animal lab testing, factory farming, intentional cruelty in animal fighting “sports”, the sick list goes on and on.

We can only hope, dream and pray that the train is headed for a future where horses and all other animals are treated more humane, where compassion reins over corporate greed, where government listens to the people, where we are more careful with nature and where the Conklins of the world get what they deserve. We all play an important part in the course of history, because history is only made by those who care about the future.

I was inspired by Richard “Kudo” Couto and if you have ever doubted your selves or wondered about your limitations or got frustrated with setbacks, then I think you will be too. Clearly there is no limitation to the difference one person can make.

Here is his story:

He was a real estate investor who did well flipping properties in the booming real estate market. He always had a heart for animals and when the real estate market wasn’t booming so much anymore, he started volunteering by feeding horses and cleaning stalls for the SPCA of south Florida. One day the SPCA gets a call to investigate a horse in distress and they ask Richard to come along. That call would change his life forever, along with the lives of many a doomed animal.

He had glorious days, he was treated with dignity, he got 4 meals a day with every vitamin in it he could possibly need. He was a thoroughbred race horse, born on a farm with beautiful green pastures, a descendent of the great Secretariat, his name was Freedom’s flight. He had lots of promise, came in first most of the time and won over 78,000 dollars for his owner in his first year of running. One unlucky day he broke his front leg right out of the starting gate. Incredibly he kept on running at his riders request and he still finished third. But his owner was quick to sell him.

His next owner was a woman who had seen him run and saw money signs. She thought she could fix his broken leg but after she had it x rayed, her dreams were shattered like his canon bone was. She sold him to a pony ride company, who didn’t mind that he had a limp, and he was forced to take people for rides on the streets of Miami. He kept giving all he had, until one day he just couldn’t do it any longer.  The pony ride company sold him to a kill buyer for 50 dollars. (It would have cost them approximately 150 dollars to euthanize him) The kill buyer sold him to a rancher named Coto (no U) who lives in a ramshackle house in the C-9 basin. He kills horses with an ax and sells the meat out of his van. Coto tied freedoms flight to a palm tree, where he had no choice but to stand in his pain, agony, fear and confusion, wondering why no one came for him, like they did before.

That day, the SPCA investigator along with Richard drove the dirt roads that were strewn with Cuban signs advertising horse meat. They drove through the C-9 basin, a wetlands area, where just bout everything is outside the law. For over 30 years the C-9 dwellers have been able to do whatever they want, from building illegal structures to stealing  electricity, to fighting dogs and roosters, slaughtering animals, to dumping hazardous waste. They drove onto a primitively fenced property strewn with garbage. Everything they saw after they entered the property was worse than they had ever imagined. There were calves crying for their moms locked in crates (for veal), tied up starving goats, lambs and pigs, all kinds of animals with  wounds on them scrambling for something to eat in the dirt, emaciated horses, and evidence of unspeakable cruelty such as burn boxes, torches, knives and axes in the tiled and bloodied slaughter area. Nothing had prepared Richard for what he was witnessing.

He gravitated towards a filthy emaciated horse that hung his head in defeat. The horse had the signs of beatings all over his body, puss was dripping from his abscesses and his leg was dangling uselessly from his body. He was tied to a palm tree and seemed to have been there for a long time. Richard touched the horse’s dirty nose, looked him in his weary eyes and told him that he was going to get him out of there.

Freedom's Flight upon rescue

The butcher Coto surrendered Freedoms flight, but the animal protection laws were not strong enough to take away all the animals, nor were there homes for all of them. There is no law against butchering your own animals for your own consumption, so that is the loophole the butchers use. They could not be pursued by the law other than for the illegal dumping of the remains of animals.

This was the biggest B.S. Richard had ever heard, so what he did next was purchase some camo clothes, a bullet proof utility vest, a gun and a bunch of cool spy stuff on the internet.  There is a saying that Richard heard all the time at the SPCA. “The triumph of evil is made possible by good people who do nothing”. He decided that  that wasn’t gona be him. Since that day, he has not stopped documenting and filming what goes on in the illegal slaughter farms, even though he has been chased, threatened, shot at and also bit by the occasional guard dog.

His next step was to alert all authorities. However when he reported to the police, they said there is nothing they can do. When he went to animal services of Miami, they said there is nothing they could do. When he went to Food safety and the USDA, guess what, they said there was nothing they could do. When he went to the environmental agency, same story.  When he went to the Building and zoning department they told him honestly that they had never enforced any rules in the C-9 basin, because it was too dangerous for inspectors, so they said there was nothing they could do.

An average person would have given up understanding the limitations of a simple citizen, but it only got Richard more ticked off, so he proceeded undeterred to the Florida state attorney herself, Kathren Rundle. He presented her with all the evidence he had so diligently collected, the butchers were even stealing horses right out of peoples barns and paddocks! She was as appalled as any decent person should be, and Richard finally found the support he needed. She did not hesitate to order all the authorities to cooperate with Richard and work together to shut down the illegalities a.s.a.p.

Police response at scene

On January 17^th a task force operation comprised of more than 100 officers and 15 county, state and federal agencies descended upon some of the worst farms, citing animal cruelty, slaughtering without a license, operating a business without a license, food safety, sanitary nuisance, environmental codes, zoning codes, building codes, neighborhood compliance codes, land squatting, and stealing electric.

Over four days the building and compliance office condemned over 400 structures, and issued more than 200 code violations. The state health department identified more than 100 health hazards and the environmental resources department issued another 100 plus violations for operating illegal slaughter houses. In addition officials broke up cockfighting rings, dog fighting rings and illegal restaurants. Five ranchers were charged with criminal misdemeanors, two people were arrested and six others were ordered to appear in court on charges of animal cruelty.

That was only the beginning, says “Kudo”. Together with the SPCA of South Florida and a county commissioner, he wrote up a resolution that would close the loophole so that authorities could arrest butchers of horses for more than illegal dumping of garbage. The resolution was sponsored by Senator Victor Crist R-Tampa, as SB 1708, and HB 765, sponsored by Rep. Luis Garcia, D-Miami. After some diligent lobbying, it was unanimously passed in both the house and the senate and signed by Governor Charlie Crist on May 14^th 2010.

Richard "Kudo" Couto and Florida Senator Victor Crist

The bill makes it a felony to kill, maim or mutilate a horse, and prohibits the transport, sale, distribution or possession of horse meat that is not acquired from a “licensed slaughterhouse.” Since no operations in Florida are licensed to slaughter horses, this amounts to an outright prohibition on the slaughter of horses for human consumption. The new law makes it illegal to possess sell or eat horse meat with a minimum sentence of one year in prison and 3500 dollar fine. This is an all encompassing and incredibly groundbreaking law. It sets precedent for the rest of the country and for the rest of the world. It goes into effect on July 1^st.

Richard is no longer with the SPCA because of serious threats to that organization. He has founded his own organization called ARM, Animal Recovery Mission. Freedom’s flight is his best friend, and the picture of health and horse happiness today.

With the authorities reluctantly on his side, Richard has shut down 80 illegal slaughter farms in Miami Dade County to this date. However there are over 150 more. He vows to continue until they are all gone.

He was a simple citizen who saw something very very wrong. But unlike most, he refused to feel powerless and he didn’t let it slide. When people threaten him, he doesn’t falter and when they call him a yuppie tree hugger, he thinks its funny.

Freedom's Flight Today!

So now you can see how I was impressed and inspired. And although we may not all have the time or the money available nor may we all want to turn into vigilante Rambo heroes, I think there is something that we can all take from his story. Perhaps even more so than we already do, we can set aside our conceived limitations, go one step beyond what we think we are capable of and go the extra mile for the defenseless.

“Permanence, perseverance and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragement, and impossibilities: It is this, beyond all else which distinguishes the victorious from the defeated.”

I think I speak for all of us horse advocates when I say: THANK YOU Richard, for your courage, determination, drive and vision. We will all be supporting you and cheering you on. And if you need anything, we’ll be right here.

“There is no greater wisdom than knowing the difference between right and wrong, no greater purpose than doing what is right, and no greater satisfaction than knowing you made a difference”.-Simone Netherlands-

P.S. Sadly we all know that there are thousands and thousands of horses with a story very similar as Freedom’s flight’s. Some end up in illegal slaughter houses in the US, but most end up in the giant slaughter plants in Mexico and Canada. When they were born, there was someone that was happy about it, but when they were sold, they were forgotten.

Richard cares about the federal ban on horse slaughter as well as about the plight of our wild horses. You can thank him on his facebook page, or contact him through his website.

written by Simone Netherlands, copyright respect4horses organization. www.respect4horses.com

facebook page Simone Netherlands, Richards facebook page Richard “Kudo” Couto

CNN Segment

Reporter Simone Netherlands, EWA President John Holland, Author R.T. Fitch, Wild Horse Advocate Rob Plisken

Categories: Equine Rescue, Horse News, Horse Slaughter

Tagged as: Animal welfare, curelty to animals, Equine, Florida, Freedom's Flight, Horse, Horse Meat, Horse racing, Horse Slaughter, Kudo, Miami-Dade County Florida, Richard Couto, Simone Netherlands, SPCA