Horse cruelly whipped 'to protect toddler'

Animal Welfare Inspectors yesterday testified in proceedings against a man caught on video beating a horse.

The police had instituted proceedings against Elton Saliba, after a video of the May 2014 incident went viral on the internet. Saliba is pleading not guilty to animal cruelty.

Police Inspector Nicholas Vella had previously told the court that the accused had claimed that his actions were intended to protect a two-year-old girl, a daughter of a colleague of his, who was in the stable at the time.

He said he had feared that the horse would bite her. He said he beat the horse until the girl's father was able to retrieve her from the stable.

However, Animal Welfare Department officers Roberto Barbo and Dennis Sciberras today testified that the horse in the video, which shows the animal in a stable being struck several times by the accused, had reacted in order to avoid the blows.

Lawyers Franco Debono, Marion Camilleri and Angie Muscat defended Saliba.