16/09/2021

Giovanni Oberti, a show jumping rider, has been sentenced to six months imprisonment (with suspended sentence) by the Court of Rimini for brutally killing his girlfriend's dog: after beating the dog to death with a pitchfork, he put her in a bag and burnt her alive.  She died after hours of agony.

The events took place in August 2014 during a horse competition held at the Horse Riviera Resort in San Giovanni in Marignano (Rimini): we immediately reported this on our website.

The first hypothesis was that of a quarrel between the couple and a cruel gesture as a form of retaliation against a 10-year-old Jack Russell named Gina.

However, investigations by the Public Prosecutor's Office suggested that there could be a doping trafficking ring behind it, linked to horse races: CCTV images from the resort where the two were staying showed the dog being picked up by two men and taken to a field.

However, only Oberti was charged with the mistreatment and killing of an animal, hence the sentence of a few days ago, which comes at a distance of seven years.

In 2015, that is a few months after Gina was killed, Oberti was placed under investigation for doping by the Anti-doping Prosecutor's Office of the Italian National Olympic Committee, CONI, and shortly afterwards the CONI itself disqualified him for two years for 'use or attempted use of a prohibited substance or a prohibited method'.

Oberti continued to compete at least until 2018 in FISE competitions (Italian Federation of Equestrian Sports).

(photo: Riders Advisor)