17/02/2010

The only rescue centre in Italy for mistreated equines starts a big project to spread the culture of respect of their rights and their needs.

Having developed through years of experience assisting many equines rescued and saved from mistreatment or slaughter, with an ambitious mission to become the catalyst for a cultural change in Italy: IHP, the Italian Horse Protection Association is the only rescue centre for mistreated and confiscated horses in Italy, on the basis of law n.189 of 2004. Now it is also a big project uniting various personalities linked to the horse world, with the aim of improving the condition of equines as the most exploited animal species in Italy. Just some of their uses include: legal and illegal races, popular feasts, riding schools, carriages for tourists, circuses, transport, slaughter, vivisection, furs… the list is too long if we consider that many of these practices are done without respect for the life or awareness of the suffering of these noble animals. It’s also a cultural problem, tied to a world where people have handed down, for many decades, convictions based on a scarce knowledge of equines’ characteristics and needs. As a result, he who really loves his horse and has the best of intentions, can still mistreat his equine, causing his horse physical and psychological suffering.
This is why IHP acts on different levels: one is identifying and denouncing symptoms of abuse, followed by the rehabilitation of mistreated and confiscated horses. The other, more important for all the horses, is helping people to relate themselves with their horse, donkey or mule in the correct way, discovering that learning their “language” can radically improve not only those animals’ lives, but their own as well.