13/11/2025
A commendation goes to the law enforcement agencies, in particular the Carabinieri NAS unit, and to the judiciary of the province of Crotone for the operation that uncovered the illegal slaughter of thirteen horses inside the premises of the company Assocarni in Rocca di Neto, which was under seizure and bankruptcy (therefore sealed and not authorized to operate). According to investigators, the horse meat, completely lacking health inspections, was destined for the market in the province of Syracuse, in blatant violation of hygiene and health regulations. The court-appointed custodian was arrested, and five other people are under investigation for organizing and carrying out the illegal slaughter.
“We will join the proceedings, with the aim of helping to establish the origin of the animals slaughtered illegally,” says Sonny Richichi, president of IHP – Italian Horse Protection. “For years we have been reporting that some of the horses ending up in clandestine slaughter circuits come from racetracks or equestrian sports. Confirmation of our suspicions has also come from recent operations carried out by law enforcement agencies and from the final report of the Parliamentary Commission on eco-mafias.”
“At the same time, there is strong political and financial momentum toward the development of the horse-racing and equestrian sports sector, yet no systematic and mandatory measures are in place to protect horses at the end of their sporting careers. This is an unacceptable paradox: resources and incentives upstream, but abandonment or an unknown fate downstream,” adds the IHP president. “Furthermore, the lack of transparency in the supply chain, combined with the absence of a robust tracking system within the National Equine Registry, allows horses to end up even in clandestine slaughterhouses.”
For these reasons, IHP demands:
the urgent establishment of a budget line dedicated exclusively to the protection of horses at the end of their careers;
a deep and binding reform of the National Equine Registry, with real-time tracking, transparency, and data accessibility;
the introduction of public, independent, and widespread territorial controls, outside of racetracks, to prevent clandestine races, illegal horse trafficking, and unlawful slaughter;
the conditioning of public funding for horse racing and equestrian sports on compliance with strict requirements that include the protection of the animal during and after its active career.
It is time for the system to recognize that horses are not commodities to be exploited until exhaustion and then abandoned in the shadows. The Rocca di Neto operation demonstrates that without oversight and accountability, the risk is real.