Strange treatment

Farmer insults his horses as “filthy cattle”

"It gets loud when you're loading horses," says the farmer.

(Bild: Österreichischer Tierschutzverein)

An 80-year-old farmer from Carinthia is on trial for animal cruelty: to prove his careless handling of horses, his neighbor even lurked in the bushes - until the situation escalated.

"I've been working with horses for 55 years, loading them onto the trailer and was an expert in showing others how to do it properly," rumbles an 80-year-old man in front of Klagenfurt judge Christian Liebhauser-Karl. "And suddenly I'm supposed to be an animal abuser! They all have no idea!"

And suddenly I'm supposed to be an animal abuser! They all have no idea!

Angeklagter vor Gericht

"That's no way to treat any living creature!"
He is referring to his neighbors, who have been complaining about the farmer's harsh tone for years: "He always calls the horses dirty animals and kicks and hits them too," claims one of them. "That's no way to treat a living being!" The other equally outraged animal rights activist even hid in the bushes next to the paddock to record a video as evidence.

From "moron" to "dirty pig"
She didn't really succeed. You can't see anything on the recording, but you can hear the farmer and his horse friends hurling insults at each other. Everything from "twat" to "bastard" can be heard.

And at the climax of the argument, they are even said to have made vicious threats. The old farmer was fined 1800 euros for the time being, and the investigation into animal cruelty is still ongoing. The verdict suits public prosecutor Markus Kitz, and the farmer is appealing.