“Please tell me she is fine”. Many social messages rained down after the photo of the horse on its knees in via Calzaiuoli in Florence reposted also from The Nation newspaper. An image that has deeply affected an incredible number of people, ready to question themselves about how much animal rights are protected in our country.
The photo
The photo of the mare of a “kneeling” falconer made the rounds of social media. The animal rights activists attack the category, attributing the episode (reported nanazione.it) to the heat, but the fiaccherai square: “It just slipped”. The episode took place on Thursday 30 June, around 5.30 pm, in via Calzaiuoli. The mare Fernanda, 13 years old, “doesn’t even have a scratch – said Andrea, ten-year conductor, son of a fiaccheraio -. I was accompanying an American mother with two children to their hotel in Porta al Prato. We had just left, to dodge the concrete pillars in the center of via Calzaioli I moved to the side of the road and at that point it is easier to slip. I got out, the mare got up on her own while I was holding her head, people got back up and we left. We do not mistreat animals. On days of great heat, I specifically went on vacation “.
Reactions and measures
Many and heartfelt reactions from those who found themselves in front of that photo, which portrays an “atypical” attitude for a cock, practically “sitting”, as if its hind legs were not holding up. “On the horses of the fiaccherai in Florence, – says the councilor for productive activities of the Tuscan capital, Federico Gianassi – we have long had our municipal regulation on the protection of animals, but the days of abnormal heat we are recording and climate change in general they also lead us to evaluate further measures to protect animals. I will talk about this in the next few days also with the representatives of the fiaccherai “.
Horses in the city, needs and the future
There are more and more questions about the future of the Florentine fiaccherai and the Roman barrels – Are they necessary? Should tradition be safeguarded? but at that price for the horses, so tight to ride on hot asphalt, very narrow streets and an incredible amount of people. The revision of the highway code has put them in the crosshairs much more than the protests of the animal rights activists. And in Parliament it is the 5-star Movement in particular that supports their elimination, with all due respect to romance and tourists. In the new text introduced by the Infrastructure Decree being examined by the Chamber’s Environment and Transport Commissions, there are rules against the wild use of scooters, but also the ban on smoking while driving, a squeeze on smartphones, tablets and devices that remove hands from flying, the return of the taxi bonus, which can also be used just to go to work during rush hour. The work of the commissions will begin with the examination of the amendments to the text that have arrived from the parties. Some, such as the regulation of scooters and rental bicycles, find a substantially unanimous consensus, then there are the 5stelle against the fiaccherai and the Lega which supports the raising of speed limits on some motorway sections.
Animal rights, the victims
On the days when horses run the Palio of Siena and a specimen died in Seneghe (Oristano, ed) during the traditional Ardia in honor of Santa Maria della Rosa, it is natural to question the cost of human entertainment in terms of animal health and welfare.
The Pisa case
The ordinance that came into force in Pisa was very successful – reports the newspaper The nation – which prohibits the circulation of public vehicles with animal traction in the hottest hours of the summer days. At least on social media, where there were almost a thousand comments under the mayor’s post announcing the provisional ban. “They should always be banned at any time and at any time of the year” or “Enough with the exploitation of horses, the ordinance must come into force to eliminate this mistreatment forever” recite some of the many opinions expressed on Facebook by thousands of almost all users happy with the new regulation.
Among the many, many are asking for an even wider time of the ban that goes up to 19. “We too, like Nogra, are very in favor of the initiative of the municipality – declares the provincial coordinator of the auxiliary rural guard operating unit of the territory, Michele Mennucci – I understand that we must meet the workers in the sector, it is advisable not to take away any income from the drivers. For them it is a source of livelihood that feeds their families, for this reason we had already proposed in 2018 a project then delivered to the protocol office of the Urp on the transformation of the license for horse carriages into a taxi license, or again for a replacement with electric vehicles “.
“The best thing – continues Mennucci in the interview with Enrico Mattia Del Punta of“ La Nazione “, edition of Pisa – is certainly to remove the horses from the cathedral. In 2022 it is unacceptable for horses to be exploited for the purpose of taking tourists around the city. We know very well what is the path that horses take, even if it is less than 5 km and for the most part in the shade it is also true that the welfare and protection of animals are included in the Italian constitution and exploitation is no longer acceptable. of animals for jobs in which one can very well do without them. In addition, the majority of citizens and all associations are in favor of the total disposal of horses, the voices of the city must be listened to “. Among those requesting the order, even the Northern League deputy Edoardo Ziello who commented on the service of carriages with horses, “it is a real cruelty, which in my city, Pisa, cannot be tolerated. I asked the mayor – Ziello wrote – to issue, as soon as possible, a restrictive order that limits even more the operating hours of the activity in the summer period “.