(26 March 2013)

As we feared in our previous bulletins, the Colleferro case (undoubtedly the biggest legal seizure of equines ever carried out in Italy) which started well and with the active involvement of many associations and the Police, has now languished for several weeks due to ineffectual management.

We have complained publicly a number of times that the entire cost of the operation is being sustained by three associations (IHP, ENPA (National Association for the Protection of Animals), The Donkey Sanctuary) which to date have covered these costs thanks to the generosity of the general public, while the government Institutions have not given one euro, nor have they provided any land or shelter for the animals now in care.

We are even having to fund the costs to the interim custodians of the animals, for the use of their land, machinery and labour. Beyond the end of March, we do not know how we will continue to pay these costs.

We have also protested against the procedures used, by which the majority of the animals have been temporarily housed without any consultation of the associations, even though we ourselves said we were ready to help in this. Above all, we have been putting pressure on the authorities to speed up the procedures so that the horses already seized can be rehomed and thus enable us to remove the remaining horses waiting to be seized.

We have already made known that these remaining horses, at a distance of over two full months from the beginning of the operation, are in the same conditions as before: without food and without any form of assistance whatsoever, while the owner is still free to come and go and behave exactly as he did before.

We are speaking here of around 100 animals, between those to rehome and those still to be seized, in the local districts of Colleferro, Segni, Valmontone and Paliano. Many of these animals are pregnant mares, so that number will gradually increase.

And unfortunately – inevitably – yet another hideous act: one of the pregnant mares died two days ago in an open field. It seems that the vigili urbani (local police force) and the local health authority veterinarians went to the scene but, inexplicably, left the body in place, unguarded. Yesterday morning two individuals, possibly at the behest of the owner and using his car, entered the area, roped the mare’s body to the car and dragged her to around the back of a hut (WATCH THE VIDEO). Fortunately the entire scene was witnessed and filmed by some people who immediately reported the fact to us. From there a series of telephone calls culminated with the arrival at the scene of the Carabinieri and the local health authority representatives (ASL). The scene that met them was beyond distressing: someone had gutted the mare, maybe to pull out her foal, which was of course by now also dead. It goes without saying that there is no trace of the two individuals, who meanwhile have vanished into thin air.

We turn to the newly appointed Governor of Lazio, Nicola Zingaretti, asking him to take up this entire matter and get it quickly to a conclusion, and to make the local authorities aware of the situation so that the owner can be prevented from harming other people and animals: we do not forget that he is still the legal owner of some dozens of cattle, which the Public Prosecutor seems not to have any intention of doing anything about, in spite of our documentation of their mistreatment.

Watch the videostory of Colleferro, what happened so far (Warning: some images could hurt your sensitivity).

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Related articles:

Colleferro, the images no one showed, 13 March 2013

Colleferro diary, 14 February 2013

Colleferro diary, 7 February 2013

Colleferro, the requisition begins - 30 January 2013

Colleferro emergency, 23 January 2013

STRISCIA LA NOTIZIA (TV) REPORT, 16 January 2013