Horses from the Delta of Danube are sold for nothing
Traducere de Daniela Dragomir
http://www.evz.ro/detalii/stiri/cum-ne-vindem-pe-nimic-caii-salbatici-din-delta-876390.html
Delta has a population of 10,000 wild horses that are of nobody’s concern. Or the only ones concerned are those who see in horses the meat for salami.
The local people used to look after them. Now the number of inhabitants in the area is dramatically decreasing, in the villages haunted by poverty only the elderly remained, the young people migrating to the cities. Only in Letea forest, natural preserve under UNESCO protection 3,000 wild horses live that destroy the vegetation of the area.
Many denounce the ‘ecological disaster’ the horses produce in Letea forest where centuries-old oaks and plants unique in Romania grow on a sandy soil, says Mihaela Eremia, chairman of the foundation Noah’s Arch, who’s trying to save these horses since many years.
It is true that the horses eat the young wood and tree bark, she says. She came with a project to save both the horses and the forest. She proposed that a part of population to be moved to a neighbouring forest that is familiar to horses, that they cross on their way to the Danube to water. The solution would be to fence the area while they are there. Then, she planned to send horses to former medieval walled towns of Transilvania, to help revigorate the areas and local tourism where festivals that include jousting and horse competitions are planned. A project that the minister Gheorghe Flutur, Minister of Agriculture at that time, liked, and remained on the waiting list since.
‘All those I contacted in the medieval towns were enchanted with the idea, though nothing could be done after the minister was changed’, says Mihaela Eremia, who fights to save not only the horses but also the stray dogs, owning a dog shelter near Bucharest.
‘You want to solve with horses? Help me with the cows’
No step of the project was easy. The first obstacle: the mayor of commune administrating Letea forest.
Asking for help, the activist got back a request: “I help you with the horses if you help me with the cows” proposed the mayor. The next period Mihaela Eremis turned into a detective to expose the local veterinarian that, without making any tests to villagers’ cows, he was declaring them sick with bovine leucosis and confiscated them. “ for the local people the cows are a source of food. The area is isolated, you can hardly got there and the scarce available food sells for double price compared to Bucharest , the transport making it very expensive.
So the villagers of C.A.Rosetti were cheated 2 times: once because their healthy cows were confiscated, and it was heard they were sent to a slaughterhouse in Frecatei, whose owner was related with smb in the DSV management (the public veterinarian service). From there the meat was exported. The second time the villagers were cheated because they should have got compensation for the animals confiscated. Though the money were ‘blocked’ by the local authorities.
There is no such disease as leucosis registered on the site of Ministry of Agriculture for the animals of the county, and should the animals be sick, it would have been illegal to export the meat, explain the founder of the organization Noah’s Arch.
The horses, sold abroad for slaughter
After the cows story, the mayor agreed that some horses to be moved in the forest neighbouring Letea forest. The activist wanted that the remaining horses to be caught, half-tamed and vaccinated, then sent to the areas where they were needed. In this point in the project the Forest Direction of Tulcea, the association Save the Danube and Delta and Prince Charles’ foundation, Eminescu trust got involved.
All these forces got to get the support of Army that promised to help with the transport of horses to the areas affected by disasters. Here the people would have signed a contract with the state by which they could have used the horses without becoming their owners. A necessary measure to avoid the abuses. Then the local administrations in the area of Hunedoara, Tara Barsei were waiting for the animals. Even the Patriarchy wanted a few horses.
All got blocked by a note from the veterinarian authority saying that 80% of horses are sick with EIA., asking for their euthanasia, asap.
The villagers in the area say that nobody took blood from the horses for over 15 years. Those who dared to say that, paid for it: houses were set on fire, say Mihaela Eremia who spent much time in the area. Then a veterinarian from Hunedoara made a few tests and no horse was sick with EIA.
Investigations were published, revealing that the goal was to kill the horses to export their meat abroad. The mafia was so extended that there were groups of Italians, according to the local people, that were breaking the horses knees and tearing out their eyes. “A healthy horse has a very big market value. Crippled, you can get it out of the country for free, the activist says. In Italy mortadela is made of horse meat, she explains.
After many changes in the local veterinarian authority the situation calmed down.
The horses are still in the Letea forest and the local people have remained strongly impressed by the things they saw.
Also a local mafia developed. Some local people got chips and they catch horses, put them chips, pretend they are the owners and sell them abroad. Recently 2 Croatian companies appeared in the area and have official contract and buy horses from the area. “A superb animal that could live 25 years and is worth a huge price is sold to these companies for 200 lei (40 GBP) much under the real value” she says.
Nearly 1,000 horses were sold and the disease suspicions apparently ended.
The project to save the horses and the area stagnates for the time being.
“I’m quite beside myself to see who will run the Ministry of Agriculture after elections” Mihaela Eremia says, knowing that the success of the project depends on the support of institution.
