05/05/2020
The COVID-19 emergency did not stop an illegal horse race in Palermo, which was filmed on Monday 27 April at 6.30 AM by the participants themselves, and then posted on social media channels. The Carabinieri of the Palermo Group and the Centro Anticrimine Natura (Natura Anti-criminal Association), whom we applaud for their brilliant operation, managed to stop the race and carried out numerous checks in the Ballarò and Villaggio Santa Rosalia districts, eventually reporting several people for the mistreatment of animals and unauthorized horse competitions, as well as various irregularities in the way in which they kept the animals found in the city "stables". Actually it is not uncommon for horses exploited in illegal racing to be kept in garages used as makeshift paddocks in the city centres. From IHP sources, it seems that the two horses that can be seen in the video have been seized by the judicial authorities. As we have consistently maintained, this is obviously a crime, though the cause is also to be attributed to a fake registry, which allows the trading of horses without any inspections regarding their welfare or traceability. Many of those who end up in illegal racing come from Italian hippodromes. VIDEO AND NEWS REPORTS: https://www.lasicilia.it/news/palermo/338752/palermo-corsa-di-cavalli-seguita-da-centauri-con-mascherine-bloccata.html https://www.palermotoday.it/cronaca/corsa-clandestina-cavalli-via-ernesto-basile-denunce-multe.html https://palermo.gds.it/video/cronaca/2020/04/30/corse-clandestine-di-cavalli-a-palermo-ai-tempi-del-coronavirus-sette-denunce-a418a5bf-1499-40cc-8220-d189d6207313/ RELATED ARTICLES: Trapani, a horse shot in the head and abandoned on the road (February 2020) Palermo, orrore: cavallo legato e ucciso trovato sul ciglio della strada (aprile 2019) Palermo, viale Regione: cavallo morto abbandonato per strada (luglio 2015) Ficarazzi (PA): cavallo morto sulla spiaggia (febbraio 2015) Palermo, via Basile: cavallo morto, è figlio di Varenne (settembre 2012)