Retired but hooful: Serbia's horses get a stable home after injuries
Pasha, the superstar
A movie star, magazine cover model and a champ of various carriage races, Pasha, a lightly dappled greyish white Lipizzan, was suddenly abandoned and homeless after it suffered an injury. However, the Staro Brdo shelter in central Serbia has come to its rescue.
Inhumane treatment
Horses in Serbia were facing inhumane treatment and, harnessing and whipping them while dragging carts was becoming a common sight in the country. This was something that Zeljko Ilicic could not bear anymore, and he decided to act against it.
Zeljko Ilicic
The 40-year-old, Zeljko Ilicic, emerged as a saviour for these horses as he opened a Staro Brdo shelter in central Serbia. "At one point, I decided to do something about that, even if it means rescuing only a single horse," Ilicic said.
'Work machines'
The horses of Serbia are not just being treated as 'work machines' but are also being subjected to abuse and irresponsible care-taking. Ilicic estimates that "at least half" of the horses in Serbia are not kept in decent conditions.
"Horses in Serbia are in a difficult situation — they are no longer 'work machines' that owners tend to because they survive off them, nor are they pets that rich families ride and take care of like they do in the West," he said.
Sold to slaughterhouse
Horses are also sold to slaughterhouse for 200-300 euros when owners face financial crisis. Last year, nearly 19 tortured and exhausted horses arrived after being seized by police investigating an international animal smuggling ring.
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