Has horse meat run its race? Italian MPs want to ban it

Served as tender chunks in wine-flavoured stews, in shreds scattered over salads or sliced into carpaccio so thin it melts on the tongue, horse meat has long been a staple on dinner tables across Italy, and especially in Puglia.

Now the country is divided over whether to continue the centuries-old culinary tradition after an alliance of bipartisan parliamentarians floated a proposal to ban horse meat.

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The law would classify horses, donkeys and mules as pets, imposing fines of up to €100,000 and jail sentences of up to three years for anyone who rears them for slaughter.

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“This proposal is an extraordinary opportunity to bring about a cultural change that is already in the hearts of the majority of Italians,” said Michela Vittoria Brambilla, a parliamentarian for Noi Moderati, part of Giorgia Meloni’s ruling coalition, who has depicted the slaughter of horses as cruel.

The proposal, which also has the backing of centre-left parliamentarians, has prompted a lively public debate, and numerous petitions for and against the measure have emerged online.

Luigi Menduni, president of the youth wing of Confcommercio Bari-Bat, voiced concern for local workers, including those in tourism who rely on visitors eager to sample regional specialities. Italian cuisine was added to Unesco’s intangible cultural heritage list in December.

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“This could affect the entire supply chain, meaning farms, logistics, lorries going back and forth, butchers and restaurants,” said Menduni, who founded a horse meat festival in the Pugliese town of Corato in 2024. “Behind every single person there is a mortgage to pay, a child to raise — there is an entire economy that depends on it.”

He noted that Puglia ranked first among Italian regions for horse-meat consumption, accounting for 13 per cent of the national total.

The proposal is under review by a senate commission. Gian Marco Centinaio, the senate’s vice-president and a vocal opponent of the move, said it would take months for the bill to pass through both parliamentary houses.

“Calling a horse a pet is against any logic,” Centinaio said. “From what I’ve heard in the last few weeks, there are more colleagues who are against it than for it.”