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Death of IHP horses at Volterra, the Association objects to the archiving of the case.

31/05/2022

The President of the IHP has registered a formal request to the Public Prosecutor “to investigate the presence underground of toxic waste, since there has not to date been any focussed search for such poisons, and the 19 deaths are still without any explanation. Let us not forget the Keu case*”.

Lawyers acting on behalf of IHP have presented a formal objection to the proposal by the Public Prosecutor of Pisa to close the investigation into the deaths of 19 horses .

Between 2019 and 2021, at the Tenuta di Tignano (near Volterra) where the Association had transferred its activities, something happened which had not ever happened in Italy – or possibly the world – before that: in all, 19 horses, all in good health and robust condition, suddenly dropped to the ground, dying within just a few minutes afterwards.

“The Public Prosecutor of Pisa has requested the closing of the case without a plausible explanation having been found for these deaths. We do not even know whether we are looking at a deliberate crime, or an environmental disaster”, writes IHP President Sonny Richichi. “We are simply mystified by this decision to archive the matter, not least because, subsequent to those deaths, some very serious facts have emerged regarding gross environmental pollution in Tuscany. Significantly, at Tignano, no investigation of the actual soil has ever been carried out, inspite of our asking for this to be done. We witnessed  that heavy rains and the trampling of the horses frequently brought to the surface rubbish and suspicious substances that had probably been dumped and buried in those places many years previously. Unfortunately the recent ‘Keu Inquiry’ has shown that Tuscany, and in particular the area between Empoli and Siena (not far from Tignano) has been the site of very serious pollution of the soil. We have therefore registered a formal legal objection, and have asked the Public Prosecutor to have coring carried out in the areas where the horses died, in order to ascertain whether there are toxins present in the soil and subsoil which are potentially fatal for this species of animal.”

There are also many other aspects of the investigations which have not been brought to light, due to the lack of coordination between the various specialist teams involved, following the deaths. For example, the autopsies were often not carried out with the necessary speed, being done hours or even days following the deaths, which means that some very volatile substances – for example cyanide – wouldby then havebecome untraceable. We may never know if someone deliberately killed our horses, but we do ask that no stone remains unturned in the hunt for every possible clue. Starting with soil analysis. We find it somewhat significant that not one horse has died since we left Volterra for Montaione last July, and that before and after the period spent at Tignano, the horses in our care die only of old age or verifiable illness; we have had not one  suspicious death since leaving Tignano. I can only repeat: following the revelations of other investigations that have brought to light very serious environmental crimes in Tuscany, is it possible no one wants to find out what is under that ground in Tignano?”

* The Keu case in 2021 revealed illegal toxic waste dumping which caused gross pollution in the area.

 

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