A court on the southern island of Crete has convicted a local man of severely mistreating a horse he owned that eventually died of its injuries five years ago, an animal rights group said Friday.
The umbrella Hellas Animal and Nature Federation said that the Iraklio court gave the defendant a one-year suspended prison sentence and fined him €3,800 – in addition to a €33,000 fine imposed by police before the trial.
Federation Secretary-General Maria Houstoulaki said that while it was disappointing that the case had taken five years to result in a conviction, the fines above all would serve as a future deterrent for animal abusers.
“The horse was found in dreadful condition, one of its hooves had been severed,” she told Kathimerini English Edition. “It was bleeding and starving, and had been left hobbled with a rope.” Houstoulaki also praised local police for their handling of the case.
The horse was found in the vicinity of the village of Aghios Syllas, some 15 kilometers south of Iraklio in 2021, and the case came to court following a formal complaint by volunteers from the local Zoforos animal welfare society.
