• croatiantimes.com
• romaniantimes.at
• salzburgtimes.at
• viennatimes.at
• austrianindependent.com

Today

• Vienna - VESCC English Catholic Mass
• Vienna - Unknown Underground
• Vienna - Cats
• Vienna - Andy Warhol
• Vienna - Laser Tag

07. 09. 10. - 12:00

• more General News news
• RSS Feed General News

07. 09. 10. - 12:00

SRS faces animal cruelty claims

Vienna’s Spanish Riding School (SRS) bosses have been accused of animal cruelty after three horses suffered serious injuries at their countryside stables.

Local media reveal today (Tues) three young Lipizzaner stallions were injured after keepers reunited them with the herd in Piber, Styria, after spending one month at the SRS’s Viennese facilities.

Two studs sustained flesh wounds and bruises on their necks, while stallion "Maestoso Wanda" needed to undergo surgery on a broken leg.

Now the Freundeskreis der Spanischen Hofreitschule, a group of donors to the SRS, have reported the world-famous institution for animal cruelty.

One member of the group is quoted as saying: "The young studs should not have been reunited with the herd after being away for a month. Fights were likely to break out. It’s madness the animals weren’t separated."

Piber SRS stables chief Max Dobretsberger told newspaper Österreich: "We wanted the animals to have a good time at the alp, but we probably made a mistake in hindsight."

SRS vet Georg Hladik said it was unclear whether seriously injured stud "Maestoso Wanda" will ever be able to participate in one of the school’s popular shows again.

SRS boss Elisabeth Gürtler dismissed any animal cruelty accusations. She said: "It’s the most normal thing in the world that stallions fight. Horses suffer broken legs in enclosures all the time. There’s no connection to me."

SRS – which is subsidised with taxpayers’ money – made headlines earlier this year when it emerged that the institution suffered losses of 400,000 Euros in 2009.

Viennese newspapers reported two of the SRS’s chief equestrians suspended from work last year were still on full wages. Greens MP Wolfgang Zinggl warned: "The SRS will financially collapse in two years if this is true."

Gürtler refused to reveal how much the dismissed head riders earned. The former organiser of the State Opera Ball claimed "data protection reasons" prevented her from giving out this information.

Wealthy friends of the SRS spent 120,000 Euros on a revolutionary sand set to cause less strain to its famous Lipizzaner horses earlier this month.

The SRS head was forced to cancel several shows after 20 Lipizzaner horses developed an acute coughing infection in March.

Austrian Times

Related articles: Vienna focus

1. Knoflacher emphasises pedestrian zones' economic effects

   » General News 2012-05-24

   A renowned traffic planner has stressed that shop owners are generally appreciating the introduction of pedestrian zones.

2. FW turnover takes off

   » Business 2012-05-24

   Austria’s biggest airport has managed to increase its profit.

3. Vienna road toll on the agenda again

   » General News 2012-05-22

   The Vienna Greens are risking a coalition-internal conflict by calling for a city toll.

more related articles tagged "Vienna focus"

Related articles: business scandals

1. Coalition accelerates anti-corruption ambitions

   » General News 2012-05-24

   The government is intensifying its attempts to pass a transparency package in parliament.

2. Pecik defends TA engagement

   » Business 2012-05-24

   Telekom Austria (TA) investor Ronny Pecik has declared himself a team player.

3. Petrol traders plan legal action

   » Business 2012-05-17

   The domestic mineral oil industry plans to sue the government about plans to set up a tool regulating fuel prices.

more related articles tagged "business scandals"

Related articles: Austria & America

1. Brodbeck criticises credit rating 'hysteria'

   » Business 2012-05-01

   A German economist has warned from "dangerous monopoly circumstances" in the global rating business.

2. S&P concerned about banks' stability in serious crisis

   » Business 2012-04-20

   Standard & Poor's (S&P) analyst Alois Strasser has warned that a crisis worse than the most recent one could “totally demolish” Austrian finance institutes’ capital.

3. Fitch approves Austria's financial trustworthiness

   » Business 2012-04-18

   One of the world’s leading credit rating agencies has confirmed the Austrian AAA.

more related articles tagged "Austria & America"

Turks flattened by lone asylum seeker
A furious Nigerian went on the rampage at a refuge for asylum seekers in Leibnitz, attacking several people and damaging property.

Woman bites toddler
A woman who bit a two-year-old tot during a road rage row with her mother is being quizzed by police in Wiener Neustadt, Austria.

New Dany Boon comedy to be filmed in Austria
The French film star Dany Boon, one of the highest paid actors in Europe after his hit film "Welcome to the Sticks", is filming in Salzburg.

China meets Hallstatt
After a long time of speculation and anticipation the exact copy of Austrian world heritage village of Hallstatt-Dachstein in China will be unveiled, and there will be real-life Austrians present for the ceremony.

Skier in court after accident
A man from Graz is in court today accused of having inflicted negligent injury upon a five-year-old when skiing in Carinthia last year.

Two fires in Ottakring claim one life
Two fires started on Thursday evening in the Vienna district of Ottakring, one of which claimed a man’s life. Several people were evacuated as a result of the two blazes.

Cows zapped to death by lightning
Four cows were zapped to death after a lightning strike hit the barbed wire fence they were leaning on in Reith im Alpbachtal, Austria.

Wolf babies born in Schönbrunn
These cuddly Artic wolf cubs have got every right to look a bit frosty - after they emerged into the world for the first time in the middle of a 27 degree heatwave.

Cleaned Out
A Hungarian cleaning woman who stole tens of thousands of pounds worth of antique jewellery from an Austrian Countess and then sold it for "pocket money" unaware of its real value has been jailed by a court in Austria.

Great expectations for summer tourism season in Vorarlberg
The Vorarlberg tourism industry is currently riding high after a record breaking winter season, and the summer season is expected to follow that same trend.

Jobs in Austria