06/19/2009

Associated Press

The Missouri Department of Agriculture says two horses under quarantine for a blood-borne disease were illegally taken from stables in Raytown.

The horses were removed Wednesday night after someone cut the padlocks from the doors and stalls at the Raytown Equestrian Park stables.

The horses have equine piroplasmosis, which is usually transmitted by ticks and can't affect humans. There is no cure for the disease.

Five other horses that tested positive for the disease were not taken. But those horses were euthanized Thursday.

The Department of Agriculture is working with local authorities and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to locate the two missing horses, which are micro-chipped.