Trial in Carinthia

Disgusting alert: Horse breeder presents judge with fetus

The accused horse breeder refused to take his seat – but the experienced judge Götz remained calm despite everything.(Bild: Kerstin Wassermann)

It's not every day that you see such a macabre situation at the Klagenfurt Regional Court: a 79-year-old horse breeder is defending himself against allegations of animal cruelty – and to prove that his mares almost starved to death because of a virus and not because of a lack of feed, he suddenly pulls a foal fetus out of a dirty bag.

The breeder's emaciated horses have been occupying the courts for some time now: the Administrative Court has already declared the confiscation of the horses to be lawful in view of the established facts, the Constitutional Court is still reviewing the case, and now the 79-year-old must also face criminal charges before the Klagenfurt Regional Court on suspicion of animal cruelty.

There, the retired master confectioner makes a more than strange impression on Judge Sabine Götz, to put it politely: he refuses to sit down and emphasizes that, as the son of a "Saudirn," he has learned to stand upright and defend himself against attacks from "his dear fellow human beings." He has been breeding riding horses since 1972, and since retiring, he has devoted all his attention to them. He therefore considers himself an absolute expert and even brings a foal fetus in a dirty plastic bag as macabre proof of his knowledge.

What does this have to do with the fact that his animals were far too thin and sick and had to be rescued from the mud by the fire department? "My experience is worth more than a veterinarian," emphasizes the defendant, who is described as "quirky" by his own lawyer. He always fed the mares, which lived in a pasture day in and day out, very well, he says, and a virus brought in by others had made them so thin, as evidenced by his disgusting gift, which no one in the courtroom wants to examine more closely. 

The accused horse breeder refused to take his seat, but the experienced judge Götz remained calm despite everything.(Bild: Kerstin Wassermann)

The hearing was adjourned to hear witnesses. What the official veterinarian has to say about the case will be interesting in the proceedings. He had been to the pasture with the horses repeatedly, but it took over a year for the authorities to intervene after the fire department was called and reports were made by walkers.