From horse racing to dog fighting, the map of criminal affairs in Sicily
Lav presents the 2023 zoomafia report, the island is among the most affected regions

08 NOVEMBER 2023



Clandestine horse racing, dog fighting, clandestine slaughter, poaching, wildlife trafficking, doping: these are some of the crimes against animals confirmed in Sicily that emerge from the Zoomafia 2023 report drawn up by Ciro Troiano, criminologist and head of the observatory zoomafia Lav. The new report, which enjoys the patronage of the Antonino Caponnetto Foundation and is now in its twenty-fourth edition, analyzes the criminal exploitation of animals that occurred in 2022.

«Sicily is one of the regions where zoo crime is most active - says Troiano. - All the crimes examined are recorded, and some conduct is strongly rooted in the criminal underworld." The observatory asked the ordinary prosecutors' offices, and those at the Juvenile Courts, for data relating to the total number of criminal proceedings in 2022, both known and against unknown persons, and the number of suspects for crimes against animals. For Sicily, the responses came from 13 out of 16 prosecutor's offices (Agrigento, Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto and Ragusa did not respond) and from 3 juvenile prosecutor's offices (Caltanissetta did not respond).

«Projecting the data at a regional level, it can be estimated that in 2022 at least 800 cases were registered in Sicily (approximately 8.87% of the national ones), with a rate of 15.82 procedures per 100,000 inhabitants; with at least 600 suspects (approximately 12.89% of the national ones), with a rate of 11.86 suspects per 100,000 inhabitants. We remind you that this is an underestimate and not a certain figure, given the absence of data from important prosecutors who did not comply with our request", states the Lav note. «Trafficking linked to the exploitation of animals in Sicily confirms their danger and represents an important portion of the business carried out at a national level - continues Troiano. - Illegal racing, for example, represents the most alarming business and the investigations have confirmed the interests of the mafia gangs in this crime." «The illegalities - he observes - do not spare the official horse races. According to the official data relating to the list of horses that tested positive in the anti-doping control, pursuant to the regulation of prohibited substances, in 2022, 5 horses that participated in official races in Sicily are tested positive for any banned substance."