While some politicians pose as defenders of animal welfare on TV and in newspapers, the truth is buried under a cloud of propaganda and hypocrisy. Fabrizio Ferrandelli, Ismaele La Vardera, Viviana Raja, Domenico Bonanno, and others seeking visibility do not speak for the people or for the animals. They speak for their own interests. And while they do, the real workers — the carriage drivers of Palermo — are treated like criminals.
👉 Giuseppe Urso, spokesperson for the carriage drivers of Palermo, has firmly denounced the hypocrisy of the Municipality. In 2019, all 32 drivers were forced to spend over €13,000 each to bring their carriages in line with municipal regulations (rubber wheels, brakes, etc.). An investment made in the name of legality and animal welfare. They also signed an agreement to operate only until 12:00 p.m. and after 4:00 p.m., avoiding the hottest hours of the day.
Just like what happened to restaurateurs during the COVID period: forced to spend €40,000 to €70,000 on plexiglass and safety measures, only to be shut down and bankrupted. Hundreds of thousands of businesses were destroyed by reckless political decisions. Is this the kind of leadership we want in Sicily?
And now? Those same politicians want to throw everything away, eliminate the traditional carriages, and replace them with electric vehicles coming — surprise, surprise — from China. Carriages that, according to many industry insiders, don’t even last a month and seem designed to generate rigged deals and public money waste.
But who makes these decisions? Certainly not the drivers. Urso made it clear that they were not included in any decision-making table. The Municipality talks about “transition,” but imposes from above. Is democracy only applied when it’s convenient?
The suspicion is strong: a moral smokescreen is being raised to hide something else. Who profits from these supplies? Who funds these operations? Why such a vendetta against a trade that has represented the face of Palermo for centuries? What lies behind the actions of Enrico Rizzi, who has never cared for a horse, has no idea what it takes to clean their hooves, wash them daily, disinfect stables, or deal with equine stress? And what job does Rizzi even have? How does he fund his travels to harass honest workers? His public profile asks people to “subscribe” to support him. But who checks where this money goes?
Why has no journalist ever followed a carriage driver for an entire day, as was done in New York before accusations were retracted? Why aren’t we talking about what horses really need: shutting down slaughterhouses, banning horse meat in supermarkets, improving veterinary inspections?
Their ignorance is total: neither Rizzi, nor La Vardera, nor Raja, nor Ferrandelli, nor Bonanno knows anything about daily horse care: hoof maintenance, stable hygiene, disinfection, animal stress management, feeding, control of horseflies, colic prevention, maintaining the correct moisture of hooves. All things that require daily dedication and real love. This shows they speak only from ideology or for profit.
For those who think heat is torture: horses are extraordinary animals. They can withstand extreme temperatures, even up to 50°C in the sun or -20°C in freezing climates, like those in Mongolia or North Africa. Horses can also sleep standing up, resting comfortably. If properly cared for, with water breaks and shade, there is no health risk. In Palermo, horses work only from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and then after 4 p.m., the cooler hours. And they make short trips, often less than a kilometer at a time.
So the question becomes clear: is this really about love for horses or just another million-euro scam? One might assume the worst — and often be right. And if it’s true that Cuffaro’s party — an ex-convicted man with a definitive mafia sentence — is trying to take over the healthcare sector from Catania — remembering an ex-manager, relative of a judge, who escaped serious charges — then this campaign against carriages stinks of diversion.
The names of these fake politicians — Ferrandelli, La Vardera, Raja, Bonanno — will be remembered by the true Sicilian people. They are mostly members of the DC party re-founded by Salvatore Cuffaro, and this Cuffaro-led strategy especially affects Agrigento. With our appeal to all horse lovers, we show that if they attack the Palermo carriage horses even after stress tests sent to the University of Messina showed no mistreatment, imagine what they will do with parade or working horses.
This should be enough to make it clear to all horse lovers that Cuffaro and his party are against horses. Mr. Cuffaro, confident in his strategy, has recruited politicians across Sicily. But those seeking a comeback after a criminal conviction risk seeing their dreams vanish before the dignity of a people who do not forget. Agrigento and its province have even more to lose than Palermo, and aligning with a provocateur like Rizzi will drag them all into political oblivion. They will become powerless nobodies, as they deserve.
The truth is that the drivers have nothing to hide. Their horses are cared for with love, bathed, groomed, and protected daily. Their passion is true horse welfare, not microphones, likes, or fake applause.
Those who eliminate carriages today will remove decorated carts from festivals tomorrow, then claim horses shouldn’t even be touched, and finally replace them with Chinese robots. Is this the future we want?
We of Sicilia Indipendente say no.
Let’s protect our identity with horses and carriages: we call for designated parking areas with water fountains like in the old days, so horses can rest as buses do. These are constructive requests to improve what exists — not the criminal “Made in Italy” method of destroying everything without listening to those who know the craft.
We appeal to all carriage drivers, cart makers, farriers, breeders, and horse enthusiasts to unite in a legitimate vote of no confidence, as provided by Article 104, paragraph 5 of the 1957 electoral law: show up at the next elections and REFUSE THE BALLOT as a protest against those who want to strip us of everything.
Sicily belongs to Sicilians. Horses are part of our history.
They will not be sold. They will not be butchered. They will not be electrified.
Those who love horses, who live tradition, who work with dignity must no longer remain silent. The voice of the righteous, even if uncomfortable, is the only one that can stop the lie.
— Sicilia Indipendente