The owner of one of 18 horses found abandoned and neglected in a southwest Miami-Dade field denied deserting the thoroughbred.
John Amritt said he raised Moon's Treasure since birth. He was his pride and joy - loved him like a kid.
When he heard his name and saw him being taken to a rehabilitation farm Monday on Local 10 News, he said he was heartbroken.
"I was really angry to see the horse in that kind of shape," Amritt said. "To see somebody neglect a horse, it really tear my heart apart."
Amritt is listed on paperwork obtained by Local 10 as the horse's owner.
Moon's Treasure was one of the eighteen horses discovered in a field in southwest Miami-Dade over the weekend, abandoned and neglected. Seven were dead.
While many are being cared for by the South Florida SPCA in Hialeah, Moon's Treasure is being nursed back to health at one of the Florida T.R.A.C. (Thoroughbred Retirement and Adoptive Care) foster farms in Davie.
"This is a shame," said T.R.A.C. Intake Director Celia Fawkes. "He's malnourished, dehydrated, has an infection on his leg and has lost about 500 pounds."
Moon's Treasure was identified by a lip tattoo. He only ran twice last summer at Calder Race Course.
His career came to a halt when he sustained a leg injury in that second race last July.
"I got nothing to do with the horse," Amritt said when asked if he currently owned the horse on Tuesday. "I lost the horse in August 2011."
Amritt insisted he never deserted the thoroughbred or had anything to do with placing him in a field to rot away.
"My partner and me, we just couldn't pay the bill no more because the horse got hurt and it could never make it back to the races," said Amritt. "And the guy who owned the property seized the horse."
That man, he said, is Dr. Barry Sienfeld, known as 'Doc' on the racing circuit. He owned the training facility where Amritt stabled Moon's Treasure.
"When I went back in the evening to feed the horse, I look in the stall and there was no horse. The horse was gone," said Amritt.
Amritt said Dr. Sienfeld took possession of Moon's Treasure last summer when Amritt admited he hadn't paid his feed and housing bills in three months. At $390 a month, Amritt said he had to walk away and has no idea how Moon's Treasure ended up in that abandoned field nearly starved to death.
Local 10s Crime Specialist John Turchin, who tracked down Amritt on Tuesday, also contacted Dr. Sienfeld by phone as he was preparing to board a plane for Dallas, Texas.
"I'm not sure what happened to that horse," Sienfeld said. "He could have been sold to someone. I could have put him up for auction or maybe I gave him away. I'm not sure. I don't have the paperwork in front of me."
If you’d like to help, donations can be made to Florida TRAC and/or South Florida SPCA at:
Florida TRAC, 2740 SW Martin Downs Blvd. Suite 110, Palm City, FL 34990, www.info@fltrac.org