Two horses, trailer reported stolen from Beach
stables
The
Virginian-Pilot
© December 6, 2003
Last updated: 10:32 PM
http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/print.cfm?story=63240&ran=29360
VIRGINIA BEACH — Police are investigating the theft of two
horses stolen from separate farms late Thursday night or early
Friday morning.
One horse, Cosmopolitan, was stolen from Princess Anne Farm,
2356 London Bridge Road. The horse is an 8-year-old bay quarter
horse gelding, brown with black legs, a black mane and black tail.
The second horse, Geronimo, was stolen from a stable down the
road at Calypso Run Farm, said owner Sali Gear. The thoroughbred
chestnut gelding has four white stockings and a very wide blaze
down the front of his face.
The thieves also took Gear’s two-horse trailer and some
equipment from Calypso Run, including blankets, she said.
Geronimo was a boarder at Calypso Run and is insured, Gear
said. She theorized that the horses could be destined for life as
Christmas presents, or even for the table.
“Horse meat is big in Europe,” she said. “We don’t talk
about it much here.”
Worse, stolen horses are sometimes sold to slaughter houses for
dog food, where they can fetch about 17 cents a pound.
The horses are valued at about $10,000 to $15,000 each, said
Carol V. Smith, owner of Princess Anne Farm.
Beach police are investigating the thefts, said spokesman Don
Rimer.
Officers talked with local horse owners on Friday. Typically,
horse thieves will try to sell horses to other owners, Rimer said,
so alerting them to the thefts can lead to a quicker arrest.
Smith said she also thinks someone tried to steal horses from
her Sunday night, when she found four horses out of their stalls.
Horse theft is a class 5 felony, as is stealing any other farm
animal or dog. It is punishable by up to $2,500 in fines and 12
months in jail
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