08/11/2017

(8 November 2017)

Calenzano: IHP exposes failure of ASL and the Comune to act on the legal status of an injured mare, reported on 12 October. No reply so far to letters and other communications.

Last month, on 12 October, a team of IHP volunteers followed up a telephone call from a concerned member of the public, reporting the presence on his land, situated within the Comune of Calenzano, of an injured horse which had stood immobile on the same spot for 48 hours.
After alerting the ASL and the Carabinieri and organising a vet to the scene, IHP carried out the very difficult task of approaching and catching the semi-feral mare, and then transporting her – by this time late in the evening – to a safe place where she could receive appropriate medical care. The ASL vet confirmed an approximate age of 4 years, and the absence of any microchip which would have identified the animal. Therefore this was technically a ‘stray horse’, which IHP requested be treated by the Mayor of Calenzano as a straightforward legal case, by a simple Order of Provisional Care and of identification of the animal.

In the absence of a reply, IHP sent another urgent communication to the Mayor, and this time also to the ASL, requesting clarification of the legal status of this mare. Furthermore, IHP also asked the Comune and the ASL to investigate and verify what a number of residents of that area had stated, i.e. that the mare was owned by a local person who had dozens more horses, many of which were not legally identifiable and indeed were semi-feral, like the injured mare.
Over the next few days, with the continuing silence on the part of the Authorities, IHP tried to contact the Mayor by telephone, but his secretary passed us to the switchboard of the Comune, who passed us to the Polizia Municipale, with no resulting answer to our questions.

Meanwhile IHP was taking care of the mare, whose condition was one of grave neglect: apart from deep and serious wounds to her leg (probably caused by the damaged fencing as the horses broke out in search of food), she had literally hundreds of ticks on her, a massive infestation of fleas and of course of worms. As if that were not enough, blood tests carried out show the poor creature tested positive to rickettsia and barbesia, both of which are basically parasitic bacterial conditions, for which she is currently undergoing treatment. These are costly therapies and IHP is paying for them, but they should be subsidised by the Comune since this is a stray animal belonging to ‘no-one’, found on Comune territory, as confirmed by an official public officer.

IHP today sent their note of no-confidence to the Calenzano Mayoral Office, and to the head of the Veterinary Office of the North-West Florence Health Authority, asking them to perform their duties. Failing this, IHP will be forced to take legal action.

Sonny Richichi, President of IHP, stated: “This is a ridiculous situation, in which a total absence of dialogue and collaboration between the relevant authorities (Comune and ASL) puts our Association in great difficulty, since we have acted according to the regulations – and where a sick horse with no legal ID cannot even be taken to a more permanent, suitable location of safety. This situation does not even take into account the expenses IHP is meeting for the medical care of this horse. In the wider perspective, this total inertia regarding the situation of dozens of totally abandoned horses reported by members of the public is unconscionable, given the potential risk to the welfare and safety of the animals and of the general public.”

RELATED ARTICLES:
Calenzano (FI), the IHP team rescues an injured mare