Legislation

The legislative proposal put forward by Paola Frassinetti, vice president of the Italian government's Culture Committee in November 2009, is meeting with mixed results. The aim is to transfer horses, and equines in general, from the category of "productive livestock" to that of "domestic animals", such as cats and dogs, as stated by the State Secretary for Health with responsibility for animal welfare, Francesca Martini. Unfortunately, "the groundwork is not yet complete, so we need to start with the basics", according to Martini.