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A project for the well-being of the horse

PRESS RELEASE

ATS BRIANZA STUDYING NEW RULES AND GUIDELINES TO ENSURE THE PROTECTION OF HORSE WELFARE

The Health Protection Agency brings together experts to improve knowledge of the equine world and the assessment of their well-being. A new checklist for uniform controls is being studied.

06/03/2025

Horses, ponies, donkeys, mules, hinnies: the diverse equine population constitutes a delicate area of ​​animal husbandry, in need of scientific and disciplinary updating for a management of these animals increasingly aimed at increasing their well-being. This was discussed at the meeting promoted in Monza by ATS Brianza, scientific director Diego Perego, Director of the Veterinary Department. Speakers included the Agency veterinarians Paolo Bianchi and Virna Cavalli, Massimo Magri, horse doctor, member of the Italian Society of Equine Veterinarians, Emanuela Valle, professor at the Department of Veterinary Sciences of the University of Turin, specialist in equine clinics at the University Veterinary Hospital, Nicole Berlusconi and Susanna Cottica, from Progetto “Islander”, a non-profit association aimed at the protection of horses and equines in general, and in particular at the psycho-physical rehabilitation of animals from seizures for crimes of mistreatment.

The idea of ​​bringing together official public health veterinarians, independent clinicians, academics and volunteers arose from the shared awareness that the legislation on the matter, governed by Legislative Decree 146/2001, implementing a 1998 European directive on the protection of animals in breeding, needs to be integrated with more effective tools. In short, it is necessary to study in depth the criteria for evaluating the physical, behavioral and environmental conditions that determine the well-being of the horse, the analysis of cases of mistreatment, and above all to launch a uniform checklist, in order to improve the quality and parameters of the controls, whatever the use of the animal: food production, recreational and competitive sports, animal-assisted interventions, family-run breeding.
Occorre insomma approfondire i criteri di valutazione delle condizioni fisiche, comportamentali e ambientali che determinano il benessere del cavallo, l’analisi dei casi di maltrattamento, e soprattutto varare una check list uniforme, al fine di migliorare la qualità e i parametri dei controlli, quale che sia l’impiego dell’animale: produzione alimentare, attività sportiva ludica e agonistica, interventi assistiti con gli animali, allevamenti a scopo familiare.

“Among the aspects on which there is a need to increase awareness among operators in the equine sector – states Dr. Cavalli – are the ways in which the animal is kept, its movement and socialization needs, its diet, its health care, all factors that determine its health and, more generally, its psychophysical well-being. The launch of a checklist written by several people, to be used as a reference guide in the context of checks by all colleagues, represents an important step forward”.

In addition to that of the veterinarians, the contribution to the discussion brought by Progetto Islander, an organization founded in 2012 in Lombardy, and active throughout Italy with the aim of saving horses from situations of abandonment, exploitation, poverty and restoring their dignity and health with rehabilitation and care programs, carried out at its Recovery Center, is interesting. To date, the Recovery Center hosts about 40 horses in judicial custody. But there are hundreds of horses that have been treated and rehabilitated since the year of its foundation. The association is recognized by the Ministry of Health.

The outcome of the day’s work is comforting, as commented by Director of the Veterinary Department Diego Perego: “Our aim – he declares – was to take stock of a topic that has not yet been sufficiently investigated, to bring together veterinary colleagues from various professional fields, and to compare ourselves with a qualified reality of the associationism to understand everyone’s needs and overcome any critical issues. Our commitment will also be to give more impetus to the control activity, as always, not with the intent to sanction, but to give support and clear prescriptions to the operators.”

Satisfied is the General Manager of ATS Brianza Michele Brait, who aims to strengthen the role of the Agency, not only in the provision of services and assistance, but also in that of training and cultural growth in a field, the veterinary one, fully included in the Essential Levels of Assistance and in the “one health” concept of integrated health between people, animals and the environment: “With this initiative ATS confirms its commitment to dialogue with entities outside the institution, from freelance veterinarians to the world of associations. Everyone’s contribution will in fact also be valuable for the drafting of an operational manual, which will guide the veterinarian in his inspection activity. There are many contexts in which horses are inserted: from free-range breeding farms, to collective shelters, such as riding schools and stables, to private stables. We are certain that operators and animals will benefit from following the indications that emerged from the working group”.

“The ATS Brianza initiative represents a very important step forward for our association in the protection of equines – declares Nicole Berlusconi, president of the Progetto Islander Onlus AssociationHorses are the animals most used in human activities and are too often victims of abuse. Unfortunately, every day we receive reports of abandonment, malnutrition, violence, use of coercive methods, mismanagement. To prevent crimes of abuse, we believe that a cultural change is necessary and the dissemination of knowledge of the horse and its primary needs through training programs in addition to the application of well-defined and objective rules and protocols. We therefore thank the managers of ATS Brianza for their strong commitment and desire to promote this necessary evolution. We hope that this initiative represents an example for all the institutions that work to protect animals”.

Thomas Denti – PRESS OFFICE
SC INNOVATION AND COMMUNICATION
C.so C. Alberto 120 – 23900 Lecco
Tel. 0341 482502 – comunicazione@ats-brianza.it