Nearly a dozen horses formerly running at large in a rural section of Miami-Dade County are receiving rehabilitative care from the South Florida Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).

Hialeah police and SPCA volunteers began rounding up the animals on Friday after a farmer discovered them on his property. The captured horses were among 20 animals found roaming the area in search of food. The remaining horses will be gathered this week.

Hialeah Police Department Public Information Officer detective Eddie Rodriguez said the horses were probably abandoned by owners who could no longer afford to care for them.

"That many horses running at large in that area is rare, so somebody brought them out there," he said