Five horses stolen from Seffner farm

SEFFNER - The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office is looking for two men and a woman in connection with the theft of five horses from an isolated pasture in Seffner on Labor Day.

Neighbors saw the horses being loaded and leaving, but thought the owners had given the ok.

That morning, 'Shilo' and four other horses were grazing peacefully in their pasture off Williams Road in Seffner.

By mid-afternoon, they were gone. No one has seen hide nor hair of them since.

Shilo's owner is understandably shaken.

"You don't know where she is. What kind of situation she is in. You don't know if she is still alive or not, or if there is a chance of getting her back," said her owner Judy Aregano.

Agregano's boyfriend has a bad feeling.

"I think they are taking them to a slaughterhouse," said Terry Smith. "It's a gut feeling that I've got."

That's not an irrational fear. So far this year, 19 pet horses have been killed in South Florida. Investigators suspect the horses are being sold for meat.

Neighbors saw two men and a woman load up the local horses and haul them off. They thought the thieves were moving the animals with the permission of their owners.

Although Aregano is realistic, she says she is holding out hope that Shilo will be found.

"I am hanging onto the faith that she is still okay," she said. "I have to."

Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office investigators are looking for a burgundy dually hauling a green trailer with a white top.