...my treasures do not sparkle they clink,
they shine in the sun and neigh in the night...
IT
EN
en
English
German
Espaniol
Portugise
×
Home
What we do
About us
Meet our team
News
Events
Confiscated animals
Reports
Equine infectious anaemia
Link
Acknowledgments
What you can do
Make Fundraising for Us
Rehome a horse
Become a Volunteer
Gives useful material
Newsletter
Come and visit us
Support us
Become a supporter
Adoption at distance
5x1000
Shop
Special Occasions
Bequests and legacy
Become a Sponsor
Tax Benefits
About us
Articles and links
Testimonials of the volunteers
Gallery
Photo
Movie
Contact us
CALUSO (TO): Horses tortured with electric shocks, whips, kicks, fists, jets of boiling water. Also the groom tortured and seriously injured by the owners of the breeding
Return to the list
05/04/2017
(April 5th, 2017)
Joint press release IHP – Progetto Islander
An unbelievable story of serious mistreatments, which had been going on for a long time and was brought to light by a service by Edoardo Stoppa of Striscia La Notizia, following some reports of irregularities in the handling of horses entering and leaving the structure.
At the time of the inspection, carried out in mid-February by Stoppa with the support of the Zoofile Guards, Provincial Command of Turin, there were about 60 horses, some of them with signs of wounds more or less recent, and 10 ponies. Various instruments have been found aimed at causing pain and/or wounds:
sticks
with
electric struts
and equipped with electrical cables and batteries,
electric collar
kits, 1
taser
,
spurs connected to electrical wires
, a studded crownpiece.
Near the "training" horse walker a compressed air gun and a
bottle of vinegar
were also found with some impregnated gauzes.
Moreover, in a hiding place, many
veterinary drugs
have been found, most of which
expired
, and dozens of
passports
not belonging to any of the horses in the stable.
A horse and a pony showed clear signs on the body and their condition was such critical as to induce the Guards to make a preventive seizure for their immediate admission to the clinic.
Indeed, during the first on-site veterinary inspection, the horse had been found in the horse walker "with fresh and large bilateral abrasions caused by the intense and continuous rubbing with the work rope that was still worn at the time of the discovery".
Instead, the pony had difficulties in walking because of a serious lameness: it had a deep wound on the foot, with ongoing infection. She also had acute and bleeding injuries in the perineal region and old scars on the entire back of the body.
The report of the veterinary clinic
where the horses had been immediately transferred, describes the pony in a state of
serious malnutrition
with a
serious lameness
on the right back due to a penetrating and deep foot injury that caused a widespread infection and a tendon lesion. And also other infections on the rear legs,
scars
on the legs, in the area of the vagina and on the snout, with a
facial nerve injury
.
While the bay horse, in addition to the still bleeding wounds, had clear signs of
trauma to the left eye
.
The other horses
in the structure seemed literally terrified by the human presence, hiding in the corner of the box every time someone overlooked it.
From the information collected by Stoppa - who reported eyewitnesses - it would seem that the horses were being
tortured with electric shocks, beaten with whips, iron bends, chains, subjected to violent jets of boiling water through a high pressure cleaner, left many hours in the horse walker
(small training fence) with reins that forced them to stay with the
neck down in an iperflexed position
(extremely unnatural position that causes considerable pain and trauma).
Some horses in the structure had
old scars
at their legs, probably due to "rope wrapping", that is, narrow ropes on the joints causing trauma or serious abrasions.
As if that wasn’t enough, there seems to be a
mass grave
in an adjacent plot where it is suspected that some horses were buried: in fact, scrapers are working right these days to check. Investigators are also investigating whether there also have been cases
of illegal slaughter
of horses.
Yet, according to the information gathered, it seems that this person was also a
riding instructor for children
, making them even participate in races and competitions.
While the investigations were ongoing, yesterday the news was spread that the breeder and his companion would have
beaten and tortured the groom for hours
, causing him serious fractures, accusing him of being the one who denounced them (untrue statement, however).
For this crime both were placed under house arrest. During the police raid for the arrest,
other electrical instruments were found
, a clear sign that the breeder had started again his activity as if nothing had happened.
IHP and Progetto Islander now strongly ask for the breeding to be closed and for all horses to be seized and brought to safe places
. Associations hope for an exemplary process for such a case of unprecedented brutality.
VIDEOS BY STRISCIA LA NOTIZIA:
2 March 2017: requisition of the horses
5 April 2017: interview to the groom tortured
24 April 2017: updates
What we do
About us
Meet our team
News
Events
Confiscated animals
Reports
Equine infectious anaemia
Link
Acknowledgments