Brevard horse owner, Zaid Suleiman Ali, plans to fight cruelty charges

FLORIDA -- The owner of a horse euthanized last month by Brevard County Animal Services says he plans to fight charges that he mistreated the four horses in his custody.

Zaid Suleiman Ali, 35, was charged with aggravated animal cruelty and killing or aggravated abuse of a horse in connection with several anonymous calls about the animals on his five-acre property at 3830 Dairy Rd., a property that runs up to the heavily-traveled roadway.

 

He was arrested Monday and released from the Brevard County Jail Complex on a $21,000 bond.

"This is all an exaggeration. My property is extremely visible. People have been calling over the past ten years about the horses having no shade when there are stalls in the back," said Ali, who owned four horses and who would occasionally have sheep on the small pasture.

He also believes that he may have been targeted by the callers because of his Islamic faith and his previous advertisements for ritual slaughter of animals like sheep associated with the worldwide faith.

Brevard County Animal Services and sheriff's deputies were at the property on Feb. 7 after callers reported seeing horses in poor condition wandering the grounds.

"They were anonymous and reported animal neglect, mostly passers-by that were worried about the animal," said Cpl. David Jacobs, spokesman for the Brevard County Sheriff's Office.

Jacobs said the issue has to do with the horses and has nothing to do with Ali's faith.

I like how he tries to turn this into an anti-Muslim thing. Feed your horse, idiot, regardless of whether you're a Muslim, Christian, Jew or atheist.

Ali was ordered to comply with veterinary recommendations regarding feed and other conditions.
Investigators said, however, that the horse's medical condition was too severely diminished and that the animal had to be euthanized.

Ali disagreed.

"There are so many points, the sheriff's office said that they had no water but I have automatic water in each stall. They came in and killed my horse. Sammy was 27 years old, that's 80 or 140 human years, depending on who you talk to. This was a very old horse and lived through many things, like being lame. I treated them day in and day out," Ali said, adding that he cried as he and his family members asked authorities not to put the animal down.

"Then they said in one of their reports that I had no remorse. I have two dogs and they are fine. You just can't say there was no water when there was water available to them and no food when there is grass," Ali said.

There were three other horses that animal enforcement officers said were not being cared for to standard. They have been rehabilitated back to health and may be placed up for adoption in other homes.

A court date has not yet been set.

(Florida Today - ‎Mar 4, 2015‎)

Detroit Islamic slaughterhouse threatened with closure amid animal cruelty violations

MICHIGAN -- An Eastern Market slaughterhouse that has been illegally dumping rotting lamb carcasses inside a dumpster along Gratiot was shut down twice last year for animal cruelty and threatened with permanent closure in September.

A review of USDA inspection reports shows that Berry and Sons Islamic Slaughter House has a long history of problems that range from the “inhumane treatment of animals” to questionable purchasing decisions.

 

 

 

USDA inspectors temporarily halted operations at the Halal slaughterhouse in June and September following separate “egregious violations,” inspection reports show.

In June, an inspector spotted an employee grabbing a small lamb by the neck and tossing it “airborne until it landed on its side in the truck bed, staggered, and then stood.”

Just one week after the cruelty case was closed in September, an inspector observed the mishandling of two disabled sheep, at least one of which had been trampled by some of the other animals.
According to the inspector, one of the sheep was so badly injured that employees thought it was dead. But after realizing the sheep was still breathing, employees tried to carry the animal “holding onto it only by the wool.”

“It has been determined that you have not designed, developed, and implemented a robust systematic approach for the humane handling of animals at your establishment and do not have a recent history of regulatory compliance,” the USDA wrote in a sharply worded letter. “Further, FSIS (Food Safety and Inspection Service) has provided you with numerous opportunities to implement effective corrective and preventive actions to ensure compliance with Agency statutory and regulatory requirements, but these measures have proved inadequate.

"This indicates that your establishment may be unwilling or unable to execute the humane handling and slaughter of livestock procedures in a manner that ensures all animals received for slaughter at your establishment are handled humanely.”

The USDA said it was considering whether to permanently suspend operations at the slaughterhouse, which does big business and has been operating at the Eastern Market since 1973. USDA records indicate that Berry and Sons Islamic Slaughter House spends up to $2 million on nearly 20,000 animals to butcher a year.

Berry and Sons also has four butcher shops in metro Detroit.  The slaughterhouse is at 2496 Orleans St. at the Eastern Market.

On Sunday, we published photos of rotting lamb carcasses in a dumpster plainly visible by motorists on Gratiot. The stench was so strong that it could be smelled blocks away.

The story has prompted a state investigation. The Bodies of Dead Animals Act of 1982 requires carcasses to be burned, buried or passed off to a licensed processor within 24 hours of being slaughtered.

(Motor City Muckraker - Feb 10, 2015)