A hack driver brutally struck an exhausted horse for over an hour in the middle of the streets of Holguín, in an incident that took place on Friday, May 8, at seven in the morning. The event was captured on video and sparked a wave of outrage on social media.
According to the report published on Instagram by Bienestar Animal Cuba (BAC), the incident occurred on May 8th at 7:00 am at the corner of Máximo Gómez and Cables.
"The animal collapsed while pulling a carriage, and the driver began to brutally beat it for over an hour: nonstop kicks and lashes, while the poor horse lay on the ground," he detailed.
"It is outrageous what they did to this horse," said the organization, which condemned the act of brutal cruelty: "No one has the right to unleash that violence on an exhausted animal. That is not work; it is pure torture."
BAC demanded the immediate identification and punishment of the coachman, and issued a public call to anyone who recognizes him from the video: "If anyone in the area knows him, has seen him, or can identify him from the circulated video, please contact us urgently."
This case is not the first of its kind in Holguín.
In October 2020, a woman confronted three coachmen who were beating and dragging another collapsed horse on the street, in a video that also went viral. Animal rights activist Sara Nogueira Pérez then reported that the animals "are kept without water or food and in the sun, and the routes they take are kilometers long without rest, carrying ten people."
The pattern repeats across the country. Just four days before the incident in Holguín, a horse collapsed in Sancti Spíritus likely due to heat stroke, with no veterinarian able to reach the scene; as it attempted to get up, the animal hit its head and fractured its mouth.
Cuba approved the Animal Welfare Decree-Law No. 31 in 2021, which establishes obligations regarding rest, feeding, and load limitations for working animals. However, animal welfare organizations denounce that its implementation is virtually nonexistent.
The fines established by the regulation range between 500 and 3,000 Cuban pesos, an amount that activists consider inadequate as a deterrent. For example, in May 2025, a neighbor in Holguín was fined only 1,500 pesos for the death of a cat, a sanction that the animal rights community rejected as insufficient.
The underlying issue is structural: animal mistreatment is not classified as a crime in the Cuban Penal Code, and animal advocates have been demanding its inclusion in criminal legislation for years. Until that happens, cases like the one in Holguín will continue to be resolved with mere symbolic fines or total impunity.
BAC concluded its statement with a direct warning: "We will go all the way for this horse. Enough with the abuse on the streets."
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