Auctioneer First Charged Under California Law to Protect Horses from Slaughter

MADERA (KPIX 5) — In a landmark case, a suspect has been charged with delivering at least one horse to slaughter, marking the first enforcement of a California law passed in 1998 to protect horses. This case has become the talk of the town in Madera, where a well-known businessman faces charges for this rare crime.

They were called Lacey and Squirt, two professional rodeo horses and beloved pets. But they ended up sold for meat on someone’s dinner plate overseas.

Sheriff John Anderson has arrested Billy Ray Brown Jr., son of the owner of the local B and B Livestock auction, for allegedly sending a horse named Lacey out of state for slaughter for human consumption, a felony in California.

Brown is a familiar face at B and B: He is the auctioneer. Detective Adam McEwen began his investigation when Lacey’s owner reported her and another horse called Squirt missing. The owner had entrusted the horses to Summer Rose Tex, a brand inspector with the California Department of Food and Agriculture, who promised to take them to Harris farms to retire.

However, arrest records reveal that Tex admitted to the owner that she had lied about their destination, selling them to a horse dealer who then sold them to Billy Brown. A paper trail led Detective McEwen across three states, from California to Oregon, Washington, and finally to a slaughterhouse in Canada.

Eric Sakach, a senior investigator with the Humane Society of the United States, visited the slaughterhouse undercover. The Humane Society supports the SAFE Act, a bill that would ban the export of horses to slaughter for human consumption.

“In many cases, you will see the stunner hit the horse five, six times before they are actually going down and staying down,” Sakach said. Despite California's ban on shipping horses for slaughter, over 140,000 horses were slaughtered in 2013, many originating from California.

KPIX 5 couldn’t find Brown, but did meet with his father, Billy Brown Sr., who declined to comment, citing legal advice. McEwen and Sheriff Anderson are confident of a conviction, noting that Brown admitted to using a fake name in the transaction.

“He picked the name out of the phone book,” McEwen said, adding that the signature was unmistakably Brown’s. “It was painfully obvious that it had been forged. We asked him, ‘If this deal you are saying is legit, then why not use your own information?’”

Brown allegedly told McEwen that his past horse sales had aroused the suspicion of Canadian authorities, who questioned why he was bringing so many horses to the facility.

Summer Rose Tex faces grand theft charges. Her attorney claims she made no promises to the horse owner and was unaware they were destined for slaughter. She is currently on administrative leave while the Department of Food and Agriculture investigates.

Originally Posted By CBS SF