The German Equestrian Association has filed a complaint because of allegations of animal cruelty. The accused are two Germans in the USA.
The German Equestrian Association (FN) has filed a complaint against two Germans for alleged animal cruelty in the USA.
The association has received “a collection of videos and images from various sources that show shocking treatment of horses,” it said in a statement. It’s about the case of the US dressage rider Cesar Parra, who has already been banned by the World Equestrian Federation (FEI).
“We will pull out all the stops”
“What can be seen in the videos and images is disgusting. We will pull out all the stops to take action against it,” said FN General Secretary Soenke Lauterbach, according to the statement. The two Germans against whom the association is now taking legal action can also be seen in the videos.
“Our legal options as a sports association are not sufficient for such behavior. This is a matter of criminal law relevance, which is why we are turning to the state authorities, who have much greater ability to investigate and sanction.”
Internally, the FN has initiated an exclusion process, it said. Since the Germans involved also train horse owners in their company, the FN said it also reported the incident to the Lower Saxony Chamber of Agriculture. She applied there to revoke this trainer status from both the company and the people.