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Mid-Michigan couple hopes to find stolen horse
12/17/2006, 9:58 p.m. ET
The Associated Press
TITTABAWASSEE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A couple whose horse was stolen from their farm while they slept is mobilizing local police and the community to find the white Arabian before it's too late.
David and Amy Flach said someone scattered horse feed on the ground during the night of Dec. 9-10 and lured the horse away from their 20-acre hobby farm in Saginaw County's Tittabawassee Township.
Footprints near the farm showed someone walked the horse to the edge of the road where the couple lives and crossed a ditch in view of the horse barn.
"Someone just walked on our property and walked off with our horse," Amy Flach told the Midland Daily News for a story published Sunday. "It's so brazen."
Since the horse, Mecca, was stolen, Amy Flach has contacted slaughterhouses, auction houses and veterinary clinics, hoping to learn where the horse might have been taken.
For their own peace of mind, the Flachs said they installed a baby monitor in the horse barn so they can hear their four remaining horses move about.
Tittabawassee Township Police Sgt. Bernie Hogan said a few people have called in with theories, but investigators hadn't received any substantial leads as of Friday.
He said he can't remember any horses being stolen during his 20 years in the area.
The Flachs say Mecca is a nervous horse who would have protested being loaded into a trailer. The thief would have had to lead Mecca out while holding back two other horses in the stall, the couple said, leading them to believe more than one person may be responsible.
Mecca, estimated to be 16 years old, is described as having speckles and a scar on its right rear knee.
Amy Flach said she feels violated.
"It's very unnerving," she said.
Arabian horses are the oldest known breed of riding horses and one of the most popular breeds in the country, according to the Arabian Horse Association Web site.
Information from: Midland Daily News, http://www.ourmidland.com
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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Couple hopes to find horse before it's too late
By Cheryl Wade [email protected]
12/17/2006
[picture on news site]
Daily News/JESSE OSBOURNE
Amy Flach stands with Isadora on her and her husband's 20-acre hobby farm on Buck Road in Freeland. Amy and David had a horse stolen from them a week ago on Saturday during the night. Mecca is a 16-year-old white Arabian horse. The Flachs acquired her through a rescue situation and have taken care of the horse for 10 years. They are looking for leads on where their horse might be.
TITTABAWASSEE TOWNSHIP -- David and Amy Flach can't quite believe how their peaceful home -- with its pond out back, its orchard and its horse pasture -- could be the site for something as sinister as horse stealing.
But that's just what occurred sometime during the night of Dec. 9-10. Someone unlatched the door to the couple's Arab horse Mecca's roomy stall, removed the chain and latch from the corral, scattered the Flachs' own sweet feed on the ground and lured Mecca away toward Webster Road on the east.
Footprints showed someone walked to the edge of the road where the couple lives, crossed a ditch and moved close enough to see the barn where the Flachs' five horses spent the night. Perhaps they watched to see if the house was darkened, if the family appeared to be headed for bed, she theorized.
"It's very unnerving," she said.
She feels violated. "You get very angry and you feel vindictive and all these things you've never felt before.
"Someone just walked on our property and walked off with our horse," she continued. "It's so brazen."
[picture on news site]
Mecca is a 16-year-old Arabian horse that was stolen from the Flach family. Anyone with information on where Mecca might be can call Tittabawassee Township Police at (989) 695-9623 or the Flachs at (989) 695-2130.
Since Mecca was stolen, the Flachs have visited a website that shares information about horse stealing. They've heard about a thievery ring in Ohio and about instances of horse stealing in this part of the state, one as far back as eight years ago.
"They help you find stockyards and slaughterhouses and help you connect to the law enforcement network," Amy said.
Some stolen animals are taken to Canada, where they become "meat horses," slaughtered for dog food, David said.
The horror stories have prompted the Flachs to take action in hopes of finding Mecca. Amy's been on the phone to slaughterhouses, auction houses and veterinary clinics.
And, to salvage what peace of mind they can, the Flachs have purchased a baby monitor so they can hear their horses chewing and moving around in the barn.
"You hear a gate squeak or something ... you do wonder if somebody is coming back," David said.
Mecca is a big white horse, perhaps 16 years old. On close inspection, she has speckles. She has a scar on her right back knee.
The Flachs believe more than one person was involved in stealing Mecca. Because of her breed and because she might have been abused before coming to live with the Flachs, she's a nervous horse who would have protested being loaded into a trailer. The thief would have had to lead Mecca out while holding back two young horses who shared the stall with her, the Flachs said.
Despite Mecca's nervousness, she's friendly and sweet, Amy said. She perks up at her owners' voices.
"She hears our car coming home and she's the one to whinny" in recognition, Amy said.
Sgt. Bernie Hogan of the Tittabawassee Township Police Department said officers are taking the case seriously. One of his fellow officers, who owns horses, has been working on the case, much of it on his own time.
Still, the department hadn't received any substantive leads as of Friday afternoon, Hogan said.
"We've got a couple people calling in with some good theories," he said.
Trying to find a horse presents its own set of difficulties, said Hogan, who's been around the area 20 years and said he can't remember any horses being stolen during that time.
"Unless a horse has a serial number, you can't enter it into LEIN to positively identify it," he said, referring to the Law Enforcement Information Network.
All photos taken by Daily News photographers are available as reprints. Order online or contact our librarian.
©Midland Daily News 2006
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