The Russians mob (not "mafia) usually has no interest in that kind of nonsense. Even if this was some kind of retaliatory act, to do something so high-profile is just the thing that the mob, or even "residents" abstain from doing for the sake of attracting too much attention. Of course the Russian mob, much like the Vietnamese, are known for their extreme brutality and the very primitive nature of their mindset. But to do something that would be so highly publicized would be very ballsy and stupid even for them. My first thought, if this was not some truly unfortunate accidental poisoning, was PETA. What gets me about them (and other "terrorist" organizations) is that they kill in order to prevent killing, or to support some type of crazy, "utopian" liberation movement. Don't they GET IT? There is a disturbing diconnect going on here. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, everyone at PETA knows that a starving, flea-infested, unwanted, unloved dog in an alleyway is MUCH happier and better off than one in the UNNATURAL position of being OWNED by a human!

'Because all were on the same team, kept in the same barn and didn't affect any other horses, Swerdlin said it's clear the animals did not die from some kind of airborne virus or disease.

"We know that they were exposed to some toxic substance," Swerdlin said. "We're just investigating now what that toxic substance was."

The dead horses were sent to state laboratories in Kissimmee and Gainesville, where necropsies will be performed. "We're saddened for what's happened and just awaiting results," International Polo Club President John Wash said.

Polo officials have already ruled out malicious intent and say speculation the horses were given tainted steroids is far-fetched because polo rules forbid performance-enhancing drugs.

Groomer Amelie Parrier said giving horses electro-light-balancing additives before a match is common. Still, the governing body of professional polo -- the United States Polo Association -- has launched a formal investigation.

"I've heard of barn fires, you know, that might've killed a large number of animals, but for a number of animals like that to, you know, be deceased all within a short period of time is very unusual," Wash said.

Officials said they do not think any other animals or people are at risk. Meanwhile, the Lechuza Caracas polo team has withdrawn from the championship, but the final will be held Sunday as scheduled.

Equine Community Sadden By Horse Deaths

The death of the horses was the talk of the day at the Saddle Shops in Wellington. "I've never seen anything like this," The Tackeria store owner Tony Coppola said.

Coppola, who has spent more than 40 years in the polo business and is the stadium announcer at the polo club, said he heard several players and grooms crying.

"The horse is 75 to 90 percent of a player's ability to compete because they're the legs, they're the heart, they're the lungs, and the players just really are attached to the horses," Coppola said.

Jennifer Swanson, co-founder and director of Pure Thoughts Horse Rescue, said she's been bombarded with phone calls from horse owners concerned about the hay, feed or some disease that may have caused the animals to become sick.

Swanson said "there's no disease" and that owners shouldn't worry, calling the horse deaths "an isolated incident."

Copyright 2009 by WPBF.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 

 

It is now a criminal investigation.

Insurance swindles is an old standby for these groups.

Russian Mafia Invades California

By Wayne Lutton
Volume 6, Number 4 (Summer 1996)
 
The California Attorney General's Office report notes that during the 1970s and 1980s, under the guise of the Russian-Jewish refugee program, "the KGB emptied their prisons of hard-core criminals, much like Cuban dictator Fidel Castro did during the Mariel boatlift of 1980." The 1989 Lautenberg Amendment expanded refugee admissions from the Soviet Union to up to 50,000 per year. This was followed, in 1991, by provisions for legal immigration from the now independent states of the former USSR.

* In the biggest such case of its kind, two Russian emigre brothers, Michael and David Smushkevich, were found guilty of heading a $1 billion false medical billing scheme. The brothers used mobile medical laboratories to conduct unneces-sary and false tests on patients. Bills were then sent to insurance companies, at inflated rates or for tests not actually performed, with MediCal (the state health insurance program) and Medi-caid often picking up much of the charges.

Because of their experience at ‘working the system' in the former Soviet Union, Russian organized crime groups can be expected to continue their involvement in sophisticated criminal schemes, such as fuel and insurance frauds.

Russian organized crime groups...take advantage of bureaucratic mazes to build their profit base.'

 

 

Russian Organized Crime California's Newest Threat

Daniel E. Lungren

Attorney General

Division of Law Enforcement Bureau of Investigation

32 pp., March 1996

California Dep't. of Justice

1515 K Street, P.O. Box 944255

Sacramento, CA 94244-2550

 

 

 

It is now a criminal investigation.

Damn straight. 

Barney Fife types in our police forces occasionally find the criminals, but lately are more focused on 'right wing extremist' groups....like returning war veterans, Ron Paul Supporters, Patriots and critics of Israel.

I suppose Im 3-1 in their eyes, as Im not a war veteran.

 

 

As the people who were there suggested from the very beginning, a contaminated injection is suspected at this point (nothing final yet):

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2009/04/22/0422biodyl.html

"The 21 polo ponies that died in Wellington Sunday were all injected before the game with a government-banned vitamin supplement called Biodyl - and team members believe a tainted dose caused their deaths, the team's captain said."  ""Biodyl is routinely used in Europe as a vitamin supplement,"

Note that when the article talks about "banned" and "illegal" it means in the USA.  This particular drug is legal in other countries, including where the horses are from.  Still illegal to have it here, I'm just saying that it's not illegal where they come from.

Poor things.

Someone just sent me a link for a news story that 3 horses in Uruguay dropped dead in a similar fashion, and those three had also had Biodyl.

The detective work continues, but looks like it won't take long now....

 

 

"On an order from a veterinarian, Franck's Pharmacy prepared medication that was used to treat the 21 horses on the Lechuza Polo team," Beckett said. "As soon as we learned of the tragic incident, we conducted an internal investigation."

She said the report has been given to state authorities.

Lechuza also issued a statement to AP acknowledging that a Florida veterinarian wrote the prescription for the pharmacy to create a compound similar to Biodyl, a French-made supplement that includes vitamins and minerals. Biodyl is not approved for use in the United States.

"Only horses treated with the compound became sick and died within 3 hours of treatment," Lechuza said in the statement. "Other horses that were not treated remain healthy and normal."

Lechuza also said it was cooperating with authorities that include the State Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.

I was betting it was going to be something like that. I more suspected some kind of contamination in an injectable. Their insurance company is readjusting it's projected outlay about now!

The vet and the pharmacy will both be sanctioned.  It is against the law to use the formula he prescribe here in the USA. It is not approved here so cannot be reproduced here.