Prosecute Chairman of Association for Horse Breeding for a Gruesome Crime of Animal Cruelty

Animal owner/breeder and a Chairman of Association for Horse Breeding from Oborovo, Croatia, Branko Borković, committed (and apparently it's neither the first nor the last time...) a disgusting and hideous crime of animal cruelty.

Allowing his clearly also abused, neglected, starved, and undernourished, therefore aggressive, dogs, whether by his negligence and/or ignorance (if not even more than that...), he directly (or, for the sake of wording, indirectly) caused that alive and injured horse allegedly died due to this disgusting incident, all while strapped down in the backyard of his Association for Horse Breeding house. 

Extremely upsetting video of this despicable, gruesome and disturbing crime is posted on YouTube, and it shows absolutely disgusting and unbelievably cruel act against a horse (and those dogs, for that matter) from a Chairman of Association for Horse Breeding and a dog breeder (!!!), of all the people...

This is the link for the uploaded video. Please be advised that the video is extremely disturbing and upsetting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yC6wPj4iJz0

The man who filmed this cruelty was not allowed to enter the private property where it was all happening, so rather than accusing the man of not helping the animals instead of filming, I think that we should applaud him for filming it and uploading it on YouTube in order for the world to see it and with that, actions to be taken.

For those of you who speak Croatian and Slovenian languages, here are a couple of articles from Croatian and Slovenian newspapers:

http://www.vecernji.hr/vijesti/strava-farmi-mladog-jastreba-gladni-psi-jeli-zivog-konja-clanak-561061

http://www.najdi.si/novica/Politikis/Kronika/Farma-groze-na-Hrva%C5%A1kem%3A-La%C4%8Dni-psi-jedli-%C5%BEivega-konja%21/61da33aa86d044bde461eed2d90c63b6

The latest update from the Croatian media is that a veterinarian inspection went to the farm and removed the horse/mare from the video to be treated. In other words, they are saying that the horse survived. But, at the same time, the photos published in that article have raised suspicions that this is not the same horse from the YouTube video. There are a dozen more horses on that farm, so it would have been easy to show yet another abused horse as the one that "actually survived" the dog attack.   

There are numerous questions arising from this video and newspaper articles, even if the horse survived. For example, Borković allegedly claims that the mare was strapped because she just gave birth (?!?), so where is that foal, what happened to that baby? Why weren't the animals supervised, so something like this could occur? Why an intervention had to happen for the animal to be treated (provided it really survived) rather than Borković taking care that the veterinarian care is given? Why are all the animals in such poor and malnourished condition? Why weren't the people witnessing this allowed to intervene and help the animals? Etc., etc.... 

Police has already intervened against Borković on a couple of occasions, following numerous previous complaints regarding animal cruelty. Due to lack of evidence (!) nothing was found at the time. If the condition of the animals on his farm is not enough, this video on YouTube should be more than evidence enough!

At the moment, there is no ASPCA, SPCA or any other "animal police" organization existing in Croatia, so all is left to the media and petitions such as this one to try to expose crimes like this one. Hopefully, with Croatia entering the European Union and with presenting this case to the European Commission, this will soon change.     

The YouTube video had a great impact in Croatia and made news in all the media. Allegedly, Borkovic is under investigation. The Croatian population is just as shocked and outraged as you are, therefore I would also kindly ask everyone not to get offensive and insulting in their posted comments about all the Croatians, and not to generalize and judge everybody in this country based on this case, as well as not to get political about the war in former Yugoslavia 20+ years ago, particularly if not being familiar with the complex facts around it (involving several different ethnic groups, not only Croats), and then mixing it with animal abuse. Animal cruelty is unfortunately happening all over the world, and is committed by sick individuals rather than a country or entire nations. There are also many good people and animal lovers around the world, including in Croatia, who are fighting the best they can to end animal suffering and improve animal welfare.

The bottom line is that this man shouldn't be allowed to own any animals whatsoever, let alone have any access to horses for the rest of his life, and should be accordingly prosecuted and punished. How did a man such as Branko Borković become not only a member, but also a Chairman of a Horse Breeding Association, as well as a licensed dog breeder, is beyond any comprehension.

Please sign the petition to demand that this is finally properly investigated and this man punished to the full extent of the law for this repulsive and barbaric crime.