They had no water, no food, and no working ventilation system in the trailer of the truck taking them to Malta. Eleven horses could have continued to make the journey of several hundred kilometers in these lamentable conditions if the Toulouse police had not decided to check the driver who had stopped on the hard shoulder.
Around 6 p.m., the latter had decided to stop after hearing a noise at the level of the northern tollbooth of the Pink City. When law enforcement officers asked him to open the doors, one of the horses was on the ground. Called on the spot, the members of the Veterinary School of Toulouse were able to note that the injury of one of the equines required its euthanasia on the spot, at the edge of the A62 indicates a police source.
Six-month suspended sentence for Maltese driver
Another was also quite seriously injured due to the transport conditions. Like the other nine horses, he was driven to the school premises by a police officer holding a heavy vehicle license. The driver was taken into custody for “animal abuse”. During his hearing, he indicated that he had come to buy three racehorses for himself and eight others for owners. He intended to bring them back to his island, via Italy.
“The driver, a farmer by profession, explained that he was transporting live animals for the first time, and that the truck, which he had not realized was dilapidated, did not belong to him. He recognized that his negligence constituted mistreatment of horses, ”said Toulouse public prosecutor Samuel Vuelta-Simon.
Tried Sunday as part of a guilty plea procedure, he was sentenced to six months in prison suspended, accompanied by a ban on transporting live animals for three years and his three horses were confiscated.