Who was Funny Biz? Former owner of racehorse slaughtered on camera in Hernando County devastated
BROOKSVILLE, Fla. - FOX 13 has been working to find out how Funny Biz, a registered thoroughbred racehorse, ended up being killed for her meat in Hernando County.
One of her former owners told FOX13 she is devastated by the findings of an investigation conducted by the Animal Recovery Mission (ARM). Its founder, Richard ‘Kudo’ Couto, has made it his mission to shut down unlicensed slaughterhouses that are illegally killing horses and selling their meat.
He was investigating an unlicensed farm in Brooksville where he was buying uninspected pork, chicken and goat meat.
Kudo told FOX 13 he then started buying horse meat, and, eventually, the owners brought Funny Biz to the farm. He provided FOX 13 video of the men shooting and killing Funny Biz and then butchering her and selling pieces of her to him.
He believes this is the first case in the country of a registered horse being killed and butchered on camera.
Pictured: Funny Biz.
Susan Ditter said she owned Funny Biz for less than two years and is devastated by what happened to her former horse. She shared photos of the young filly with FOX 13 who she said much preferred to be pampered than actually racing.
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"I am still gutted, and it's hard to talk about how her life ended up. She was a sweet, beautiful and sound young filly that we retired, so she could find her next path in life. We sold her to a guy that was so happy to have her," said Ditter.
Pictured: Funny Biz.
When they realized the racing lifestyle was not for Funny Biz, they sold her to a man, who now lives in Jacksonville, in 2019. The bill of sale explicitly stated: No killpen, no auction and no racing.
"I have no idea what happened or how she ended up in this horrible situation five years later," she said. "We have always tried our hardest to find the right spot for all our horses (as do most horse people at the track). I truly hope that this unfortunate situation can bring light to the problem of illegal slaughter and those involved get punished to the fullest extent from the law and her death was not in vain."
We have reached out to the man who bought Funny Biz in 2019 as we try to account for her movements the last five years and figure out how she ended up at the Brooksville unlicensed farm where she was ultimately butchered.
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