24/12/2025
When officers of the State Police opened the door of the illegal stable in the San Cristoforo district of Catania, they found two ponies standing in the dark, confined to a cramped space and surrounded by butcher’s hooks and knives. According to investigators, a predetermined fate awaited them in that place: clandestine slaughter, a practice widespread within the criminal networks linked to illegal racing and the trafficking of equines—a phenomenon that IHP has been exposing for years and which—as confirmed by the Police in recent reports—involves mafia interests and an underground chain of violence and illegality.
The ponies, lacking microchips (required by law), were immediately seized. It was December 2024, one year ago. The local health authority carried out their identification and, in those hectic first hours, the ponies were nicknamed “Bianco” and “Morello.” As soon as it was informed of the operation, IHP formally notified the Prosecutor’s Office and the Catania Police Headquarters of its willingness to take responsibility for both animals. The answer arrived swiftly: the association was appointed judicial custodian, and the two ponies were entrusted to its care.
From that moment on, a new story began for them.
Fear, mistrust, flight: the place where everything started
Transferred to a safe location elsewhere in Sicily under IHP protection, the ponies received new names: Sacher and Muffin—an ironic way to remember the fate they had narrowly escaped.
Their behavioural condition was complex. Muffin, the smaller white pony, was blind in one eye and reacted aggressively to any attempt at contact: he bit, kicked, and allowed no space for anything except self-defence. Sacher, a very young colt likely torn from his mother too early, had no experience of humans and could not tolerate even being touched. Both were, in different ways, prisoners of fear.
Under such circumstances, beginning a rehabilitation process required time, specialised skills, and a constant presence. This is where the IHP staff came in—an indispensable point of reference from the very first steps of their recovery.
The quiet work that changes lives
There are no shortcuts when working with traumatised animals. Instead, there are routines made of small, daily gestures: a calm voice, the occasional stolen caress, carrots offered at just the right moment, hours spent nearby without asking for anything. For months, this is how Sacher and Muffin experienced their new environment, slowly learning that not everything that comes from a human brings harm.
A transformation that today seems almost unbelievable: the two ponies, once paralysed by terror, began to run free, play, explore. They discovered safety, then trust, and finally joy. Above all, they built a strong bond with one another—companions on a journey that carried them from the darkness of a clandestine stall to the light of a possible life.
This entire process—including daily upkeep, medical care, and behavioural work—was funded by IHP without a single euro of public support, thanks solely to donations from private citizens.
A new home: a family and a future
Once they had reached emotional and behavioural stability, IHP began searching for a permanent home: a family capable of providing continuity, safety, and presence—and willing to welcome both ponies without separating them. Word of mouth on social media did the rest.
Today, Sacher and Muffin live in Cavriglia, in the province of Arezzo, with the family of Lorenza Benini, who opened to them the doors of a real home. An ideal solution: affection, space, care, and the chance to continue growing together, free at last from the weight of fear.
A Christmas story that also speaks of what remains unseen
This is—finally—a story with a happy ending. But it is more than that.
It is proof of the essential role that an association like IHP plays every day: • monitoring crimes against equines, often linked to organised criminal networks; • collaborating with law-enforcement agencies during seizures and investigations; • taking part in judicial proceedings through its legal team to protect the animals involved; • rehabilitating and restoring dignity to rescued horses, with recognised ethological and veterinary expertise; • creating networks of responsible, stable adoption.
Sacher and Muffin are the living proof of how necessary all this truly is.
For us, sharing their story at Christmas is a way to remember that every rescued animal is not a miracle but the result of rigorous, skilled, and determined work—work that exists solely thanks to those who believe in the value of what we do.
And this time—also thanks to all of you—the story has the ending it deserved.
WATCH THE VIDEO: THE STORY OF SACHER AND MUFFIN