The reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the people responsible for a series of horse poaching incidents in Florida rose to $8,000 on Tuesday when Crime Stoppers of Miami-Dade County Inc. added $3,000 to existing reward funds.

Miami-Dade County Police are currently investigating 17 cases involving horses stolen and apparently butchered for their meat. Police in nearby Miramar, Fla., are also investigating a similar incident involving two horses found butchered in their pasture.

Police speculate the incidents are connected to an illegal horsemeat market in Florida.

The Humane Society of the United States initially offered $2,500 reward through the South Florida Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for information critical to the case. The group increased its offer to $5,000 last week