Abused, dead in traffic and exploited in illegal races: there is no peace for horses in Catania (and beyond)

Horses forced to race on the road while being whipped by jockeys incognito, scooters marking off the course and videos shot for social media. The phenomenon of clandestine horse racing in the Trinacria does not stop, particularly in the Catania area.

Between irregularities and mistreatment, another case required the intervention of the police, leading to the preventive seizure of a horse and buggy. The investigations, conducted between the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024, revealed illicit activities involving the use of animals along the Maraneve regional road, which leads to Etna in the municipality of Linguaglossa.

Several illegal horse races took place on this stretch in the early hours of the morning. Training sessions and races were filmed and shared to reach and attract more viewers across the network.

Precisely the diffusion of the videos for promotional purposes would have allowed the Carabinieri soldiers of the Randazzo company to identify two stables and two subjects, now under investigation on charges of aggravated participation in competitions between animals. Minors were also involved in the crime.

In Catania a horse died in the street while pulling a carriage

Unfortunately, while complaints and reports follow one another, another piece of news arrives from Catania. Although the facts are not related to each other, a horse died on the asphalt. The animal was forced to tow its owner’s carriage and collapsed on the ground, apparently suffering from an illness.

The Veterinary Services of the ASP of Catania were also on site, but did not find any signs of mistreatment on the equine’s body. The company where the horse was registered had already been subject to previous checks, which were concluded without any infringements being found, from what we understand. A couple of years ago, another horse had died in the middle of traffic, found at dawn in a pool of blood: that gruesome story had raised a fuss of indignation and dismay.

No more exploited horses!

Recent events, however, raise questions about the use of horses in towing activities, which are considered more of a means than living and sentient beings, therefore capable of feeling pain.

The prolonged efforts to which the animals are repeatedly subjected, the climatic conditions, the type of route that the horses have to travel are all risk factors for the well-being and health of the animals. But beyond objective risk assessments, the ethical question remains.

With the progress and development of society, horse-drawn carriages and carriages are now antiquated and anachronistic transport, having become solely tourist attractions in cities of art or tools for holding clandestine horse racing competitions.

Dossiers such as the Zoomafia report, edited by LAV, continuously report illegal racing among the major Zoomafia crimes committed in Italy. Attacking and eradicating these activities is an immense undertaking as it requires not only direct measures but also awareness on the part of each citizen.

What might seem like just harmless horse racing is actually just one face of a much larger, more entrenched and darker illegal action. We don’t need these races, we don’t have the right to exploit (yet) animals like horses for our purposes or for travel or any other purpose that limits their freedom.