15/03/2017

President of IHP has written to the Agriculture and Health Municipality of Sicily, the Isitituto Incremento Ippico of Catania, and the Ministry of Health, asking for a suspension of the auction programmed for this afternoon, with 22 horses up for sale. These horses are from the ‘Tenuta Ambelia’ Racing Yard and are the property of the Catania Istituto Incremento Ippico (see Notice of the auction attached).

IHP justified the request as follows:
"While still today horses are classed as ‘property’ and therefore can be moved about at will (which in the case of a public body can also include sale by auction), we consider that this practice hardly conforms to the ethical beliefs of our society, or to the level of attention that equine welfare enjoys today. These animals are increasingly seen as pets rather than goods to be bought and sold.

In the specific case of Catania, our main concern is the possible motives of the buyers, who need offer no guarantees of respect for fundamental welfare principles. The application form makes no request for information regarding the destination or the future management of the animals purchased, nor are any basic conditions or minimum requirements set out.

The fact that there are not just older horses in the list (which the Istituto presumably could claim are superfluous to requirements) but also younger animals, including very young ones, begs the question as to whether the decision to send all these horses for auction could perhaps be a result of financial difficulties linked to their keep. This would lead one to ask whether a public Institute should be maintained if it is surviving financially solely on the sale of its animals. Are financial constraints perhaps obliging them to sell the animals off at auction in this way, with no form of protection regarding their future welfare? Lastly, since the announcement of the auction does not give the information, we would like to know whether the passports of the horses for sale show they are or are not destined for the (human) food chain (DPA or not DPA).

In light of the above, we request that the Extraordinary Commissioner of the Institute, and the competent Councillors, together with the Ministry of Health, to suspend the auction until all welfare precautions and conditions have been put in place in order to protect the animals from losing all their rights as sentient beings, and to guarantee their future welfare."