10/28/24 Horse Abuser's Prison Sentence Postponed Due to Concerns for the Horses' Welfare?!?

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Animal Friends Croatia are appalled by the absurd ruling and emphasize the need for a legal ban on horse log-pulling competitions.

- A video of a horse being beaten shocked the public, but such abuse is not an exception; it is a common training practice for horse log-pulling competitions.

Animal Friends Croatia and many citizens are outraged by the decision of the Karlovac court to grant Mile Ivanišević a postponement of his six-month prison sentence for horse abuse. The main reason cited for accepting the request of this notorious abuser—who was seen live on Facebook brutally and mercilessly beating a horse with a stick—was the absurd possibility of compromising the welfare of the horses he raises.

“This bizarre ruling is a slap in the face of logic and common sense! It would be equally absurd if a court decided that someone who neglected and abused their children should have their prison sentence postponed because they have children to care for. Our organization filed a complaint with the State Inspectorate last September requesting not only punishment but also the removal of all animals from the abuser, a ban on acquiring new animals, and the revocation of any agricultural subsidies he might receive. Instead, the court allows him to continue breeding horses and supposedly caring for them. We are rightfully concerned that all his horses are at risk, despite his pretense of caring for their welfare. The problem is that many others also beat their horses as part of training for horse loh-pulling competitioons; they just don’t broadcast it on social media,” warns Snježana Klopotan Kačavenda, Project Coordinator at Animal Friends Croatia.

She explains that Ivanišević did not beat the horse out of sheer malice but as part of the routine behavior of all participants in log-pulling competitions: “We must recognize that horse abuse will not stop as long as veterinary inspections continue to approve the holding of horse log-pulling competitions. Beating horses is a regular part of preparation for these events, where horses are forced to pull heavy logs. At these events, even a mere raising of a hand, a shout, or painful pulling on the reins can trigger conditioned behavior in horses, who, out of fear of being hit, pull excessively heavy loads. At every log-pulling competition, we see horses often stopping, stumbling, rearing, and struggling to pull their loads, showing clear signs of exhaustion and distress. Such treatment of horses undoubtedly violates numerous legal provisions on animal welfare.”

Animal Friends Croatia has been advocating for a legal ban on horse log-pulling competitions since 2016, arguing that they constitute animal abuse and violate the Animal Protection Act. This was recently confirmed by the veterinary inspection, which rejected a request to use horses at a log-pulling competition because they could not guarantee the avoidance of pain, suffering, injury, or fear in the animals. The organization emphasizes that no log-pulling competition can take place without animal suffering, which begins with the beating of horses during training. As soon as a horse is harnessed to pull any size of log, it experiences pain and stress. No regulation could allow these notorious events to occur without violating the law, which is why inspections must ban all horse log-pulling events!

It is telling that the true motive of log-pulling competition organizers and participants has nothing to do with promoting horses or Croatian breeds; rather, it is about lucrative earnings of tens of thousands of euros from betting on the winners and selling the winning horses for prices many times higher than their purchase cost. “When we see a winning horse, it is the one that has been most abused! Horse log-pulling competitions are not part of Croatian tradition, and citizens do not support such practices. These events not only represent a violation of legal provisions but also contribute to illegal activities, which are a great shame for local communities and counties. Local authorities have a responsibility to prevent these events in their areas, and veterinary inspections must refuse to authorize the suffering of horses,” Animal Friends Croatia asserts.

horses pulling a log [ 194.47 Kb ]

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