Mike Maldonado was heartbroken when he first heard about the recent horse killings in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

But the impact of the acts did not hit home until his friend's horse fell victim.

``Until you know somebody, until you see their animal lying there, you can't understand,'' said Maldonado, 61, of Miami.

On Saturday, Maldonado joined hundreds of others at a rally at Sunset Feed & Supply, 7650 SW 117th Ave., to raise awareness of the recent spate of horse killings.

About 20 horses have been killed since January in Miami-Dade and Broward counties for their meat which is then sold on the black market, according to Dick Masten, director of Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers.

Sunset Feed donated a portion of its sales to the reward fund; a bake sale and T-shirt sale raised $500.

``It's our way of paying customers back for helping us, and helping a good cause,'' said Liz Thompson, store manager. Currently Crime Stoppers is offering a $15,000 reward to anyone who may have a lead on the horse slaughterings.

Masten encourages anyone who knows of someone buying or selling horse meat to come forward. Although the reason for the horse killings is unknown, Masten suspects that ``there is a market for it.'' The horse meat generally sells for $20-$40 per pound on the black market.

``You're looking at a 1,100 pound animal, you can probably get 300-400 pounds of meat from it,'' said Karen Gustinger, vice president of the Homestead Everglades Posse.

Gustinger and her posse collected about 60 signatures at the rally for a petition drive calling for Miami-Dade to adopt a ban on killing horses.

Many who attended the rally have formed neighborhood watch groups. ``My husband is home all the time, if he sees someone suspicious he will make his presence known,'' said Maria Vidal, 52, of Homestead.

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