(19 February 2016)

Yesterday morning the Colleferro (Province of Rome) legal seizure affair was finally concluded. This was the biggest legal seizure of equids ever carried out in Italy and one of the biggest in the world. IHP was one of the main protagonists both in caring for the animals where and when they were found (first aid, medical treatment, search for rehoming, removal to safer premises of the animals etc.), in this rescue operation without precedent in our country. It was a first, too, for the collaboration and cooperation of diverse Associations (IHP, Donkey Sanctuary, ENPA, Legambiente), the forces of law and order (NAS, Forestale, Police, Carabinieri) and government authorities (Ministry of Health ASL, Istituto Zooprofilattico).

IHP also coordinated the daunting task of fundraising and reached a figure of over €65.000 with which it financed the whole operation.
Most significant of all, our Association took on the responsibility of all the horses, while the Donkey Sanctuary took responsibility for all the donkeys, mules and hinnies.

Translated into figures, we have some impressive numbers: the seizure involved 222 equids (22 of which sadly died before the operation was completed), in an area covering hundreds of acres lying between the Districts of Colleferro, Segni, Valmontone, Gavignano and Paliano.
The 42 donkeys, mules and hinnies were almost all transferred to the Donkey Sanctuary, with a few being adopted on loan by private persons, while IHP took on 158 horses and ponies, of which some were adopted on loan by individuals and associations, others provisionally taken in by the Corpo Forestale dello Stato, with others again coming to our Rescue Centre in Tuscany.

Their stories have moved everyone: Costanza and Sandra, the two filly foals found dying in the mud, taken away for emergency treatment in a clinic, but where only Costanza survived. Or the case of Holly, whose dreadful wounds had to be treated in clinic, before his transfer to the Rescue Centre; Panda the foal orphaned at just two days old; and Marchino, Obelix, Falcor, Luna, Ray….and so many others. Every life saved is a reminder of the hell we walked into at Colleferro.

We have gone through intense and dramatic times: the seizure started in the depths of winter, in January 2013, which meant we were working in the most forbidding conditions, plus without adequate equipment or even a decent place to take the animals who were wounded and starving: what we had to do was to create makeshift infirmaries and paddocks within two old, abandoned farms in the District of Frosinone - ramshackle tumbledown places with no electricity. And all this daunting and challenging work hundreds of kilometres from our base at the Rescue Centre and the Donkey Sanctuary.

This meant endless long trips from Tuscany and Piedmont in order to look after the animals and attend the many meetings with the authorities. The last of the horses (Falcor Luna and Ray) were finally seized fully a year after the start of operations.
We snatched so many animals from death…yet some we had to watch as they died in our arms. Following the seizure, 34 foals were born, while 18 of the live rescued horses later died as a consequence of the prolonged suffering they had endured.

The legal battle has been long and complex: the lawyers of the owner of these animals asked for, and obtained from the Tribunal, a judgement of no malice aforethought, thus saving him from a prison sentence. Not only that, technically speaking this judgement invalidated the legal seizure of the animals, with the very real risk that the animals would have to have been returned to the owner.
Thus began desperate phone calls, meetings, tough decision-making – and in the end together with the Donkey Sanctuary we adopted a two-pronged approach: we would press on with the demand for criminal proceedings, with our lawyers Chiara Lanzillotta and Francesco De Monte, while the Donkey Sanctuary would take out a civil case against the owner’s family, seeking damages for both our associations and all costs of the seizure to be paid. This dual action proved to be the winning move to save the animals. An agreement was hammered out whereby we waived our case for damages and they gave up all claim to the animals.

This was not 100% what we were aiming for (we wanted the person responsible for this atrocious cruelty to be punished), but our absolute number one priority was, of course, to assure the safety and the future of the animals.

IHP President Sonny Richichi commented:
<<I find it hard to express my feelings: I still see over and over again the awful scenes I have witnessed in these past three years. It is a moment when I feel prouder than ever to be part of IHP and what we have achieved in this specific case, bringing to the law someone who for decades individuals and local authorities turned a blind eye to; for having been entrusted by the Procurator General and by the Ministry of Health for the rehoming of the animals, follow-up checks on the adoptive homes, and the in-clinic treatments. I am proud that IHP was entrusted by ENPA, Legambiente and the Donkey Sanctuary with the overseeing and coordination of the fundraising effort, and for not giving up when bureaucracy threatened to slow things down or even put a stop to them. I am proud to have been active in the field, particularly in the trickiest of situations, with absolutely terrified horses, ponies, mules and hinnies who were to all intents and purposes truly wild, yet where no human or animal got hurt. We have created a significant precedent in our country, our actions were widely reported in the press and on TV. And most of all I am proud of us for having saved the lives of over two hundred animals.
How we actually managed all this, a young association with very limited resources, I will never know, but IHP did it.

For all of this, THANK YOU. Thank you to IHP for your very existence, thanks to every single person for their contribution, to everyone who dedicated their time in whatever way. Thank you too to the associations Donkey Sanctuary, ENPA, Legambiente and Progetto Islander who shared this intense experience alongside us; thanks to Edoardo Stoppa and the TV programme Striscia La Notize who, after our initial report, brought to the public eye the horrors we were documenting. Thanks go to the Animal Welfare Unit of the Ministry of Health, which coordinated the seizure, to the Clinica Universitaria of Perugia, Directed by Prof Marco Pepe and to the Clinica Il Ceppo of Monteriggioni for their willingness to help, to the Corpo Forestale dello Stato and the State Police for providing us with the personnel and means to transport most of the horses and ponies. We thank Demas, Romos, Acme and Equality who gave medicines, and APA of Frosinone for providing microchips (95% of the equids seized had no such ID), The Istituto Zooprofilattico of Lazio and Tuscany for lab exams, the ASL of Frosinone (District of Anagni), for their help and commitment.
A very special thank you – and a deeply heartfelt one – to the many supporters who donated so generously and made all this possible, and the amazing people who came forward to adopt the sequestered animals, guaranteeing them the necessary medical care and well-being.

To date we have felt morally responsible (we had no legal responsibility) for the overseeing of the welfare of the animals we saved from starvation and thirst. From today we are officially responsible for the surviving 161 Colleferro horses and ponies: add to these the 62 horses at our Rescue Centre and the 18 in the care of IHP coming from other situations. This is a very big commitment and a demanding one, but this is who we are, together with the many other activities the Association carries out.

We plan to release a video documentary of this incredible drama, which will also tell the stories of the horses in their new homes.

In the meantime we have the video shot while the drama was taking place: WATCH THE VIDEO

Photo gallery of the seizure as it happened. WATCH THE PHOTOS