By DANA SMITH
Tribune Staff Reporter
dsmith@tribunemedia.net
ONLOOKERS watched in horror as a surrey horse, with tourists, collapsed and died on the corner of Dowdeswell and Christie Streets yesterday afternoon.
One woman, who asked to remain anonymous, called the scene “disturbing” and called for an investigation into the working conditions for horses.
“It was just so disturbing looking at that horse,” she said. “It’s a poor reflection on our society because that horse looked hungry, it looked starved and we need to do better.
“Those guys downtown need to be investigated. We need to shed the light on that.”
According to eyewitnesses, the animal was a 22-year-old female named Bloody Mary who was drawing a yellow and blue surrey – one of downtown Nassau’s première attractions.
After the horse’s collapse, it was tied to the back of a truck and dragged out of the street reportedly at the insistance of the police.
Kwesi Smith, a veterinarian who was called to the scene, told The Tribune it was too early to determine what caused the death of the animal.
“I would say exhaustion, but it’s not that hot outside,” he said.
Mr Smith took blood samples of the dead animal for further testing.
President of the Bahamas Humane Society, Kim Aranha also weighed in on the horse’s death and hinted that the death could be related to alleged poor working conditions for carriage horses.
“We have been trying to improve the conditions that these poor animals work in, for years,” she said. “The conditions are appalling.”
Mrs Aranha explained that some carriage drivers often pay no attention to the hours that carriage rides are allowed on the road, with the restricted hours being between 1pm and 3pm.
She also claimed “many” horses are forced to work long hours, are underfed and are not properly licensed.
She said the stable conditions for the horses are “deplorable” and revealed the Humane Society gets frequent letters from tourists who are “upset” about the working conditions for the animals.
Comments
Annie 12 years ago
I think this is terrible, no heart to drag a dead horse off the street by a truck, says it all about the ahamas and how they treat their animals. I am down town every day and watch these poor horse, the way they are treat, it breaks my heart, why doesnt the government do something...oh they dont have a heart too!!!!!
Susan 12 years ago
This is absolutely disgusting. I recently visited the Bahamas and while I love the islands what left the biggest impression was how horribly too many of the animals are treated. There is no excuse for cats, dogs and horses to suffer the way they do in what is supposes to be civilized society. I wish tourists would refuse to ride in carriages pulled by these poor horses.
lobo881 12 years ago
The disgust is NOT in the fact that the 'man' drug this horse off the street....the horse was dead and no longer in pain. The disgust in this IS the fact that this horse is obviously grossly underweight! I was fortunate enough to live in Nassau and meet some wonderful people and make life long friends. But I was and am STILL disgusted at the way the Bahamas treats its animals. This horse went to work day in and day out without a voice, entrusting in her owner to feed her adequately, water her adequately, and provide adequate rest and shelter. After all....it's all she deserved for putting money in this 'mans' pocket, rum in his belly and food on his table. DISGUSTING!! THIS HAS TO STOP!! A DAMN DISGRACE AND EMBARRASMENT FOR THE COUNTRY.
sandrine 12 years ago
SHAME !!!!!!!!!!! SOMETHING HAS TO BE DONE TO STOP THAT CRUELTY ! I am so upset right now! I just want to kill the guy who make this horse life so miserable! If you have a heart next time you see a surrey horse open your window and you mouth to say how shamefull it is !!!!
I live here for a few years and i am so upset to see the way animals are treated ... come on the streets are full of poor dogs, i adopt three cats one come from the Ocean Club ("the one and Only...") trash can .... It is so sad ... :-((( Support and try to help BHS and BAARK !
chuck 12 years ago
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” ― Mahatma Gandhi
Susan 12 years ago
I totally agree. Unfortunately, The Bahamas as well as many other nations have a long way to go. That is not to say that things can't be changed for the better if the will exists to change them.
kennethw87 12 years ago
Bey Ine ga lie dis shit can be avoided.....I know it hard to put a horse down when you grow to love them but some niggas don't love they animals.....I feel ashamed to be a Surrey owner right now..but you have to also blame the vets who pass these horses, allowing them to be on bay street.....mussie takin bribes or sumtin......
VS 12 years ago
kennethw87,
You need to "feel ashamed" of your poor choice in grammar! Learn to express your thoughts without the use of profanity or 'street lingo', please!
raeadaj 12 years ago
Perhaps you should "feel ashamed" of your outburst. Every one you meet will not have a strong command of English and I do believe that this is his comment and not yours, who are you to govern the way a man should or should not speak. So please keep what you have to say to yourself.
Susan 12 years ago
Why don't you keep what you have to say to yourself??
CFerguson 12 years ago
REALLY? You should be ashamed that you walked pass this horse on a regular basis and did not say anything! How dare you say this horse was loved? This horse was TORTURED! And blame the vets? Yes, they are wrong. However the blame falls on the "owner"! This horse should be treated like one of his own children. I bet his kids aren't going to drop down dead from exhaustion! Why, their worse case scenario they could go beg, dig in garbages ... what can the horse do? An animal can not talk, can not "runaway" and dig in garbages. An animal relies on it "owner" to care for him! SO your right, you should be ashamed because this is not the ONLY horse that is living in this condition!
samnewnew 12 years ago
its sad of course, the operators should be educated on proper care of horses.only so much you can do, americans expect too much. humans first then animals. we as a country are just trying to feed and educate children first. on tv why are there commercial about feeding and saving animals, and not ones about getting kids and families off the streets in america priorities wronggggggg.
VS 12 years ago
Those priorities may seem wrong in your eyes...but in the eyes of the Almighty, we are ALL His Creation. To Him, mistreatment and neglect of animals are no different than that of human beings.
CFerguson 12 years ago
1) Americans expect too much? NO! I am Bahamian and I expect better of EVERY INDIVIDUAL involved in the "care-taking" and dragging of this animal. 2) "The operators, this horse is not a machine, its a living breathing mammal! 3) Fine! Put children first AND don't own an animal if you can't take care of your children. Animals need more than children. I will mention again - Children can make it on the streets, they can beg, they have hands. An animal is dependent on it's owner to care take it! 4) Educate your children. Education comes in MANY forms! One is through morality and learning right from wrong. This situation, animal lover or not it WRONG! You are clearly NOT an animal person.
samnewnew 12 years ago
expect to much for animals. "children can make it on the streets" really now? not all animals in the bahamas has owners. i adopted two animals off the street a cat and a dog. only so much someone can do. you adopted all the animals and take them home with you, problem solved
samnewnew 12 years ago
if this was florida people would have been trying to eat that poor horse, i watch the news. how many horses in florida get slaughtered for their meat. now talk that...shame on yall
CFerguson 12 years ago
Talk about education! This comment has NOTHING to do with the issue at hand. Furthermore, who cares what they do in The USA! Why don't we stop watching so much TV and start working together in our communities to make a better Bahamas?! Oh I know why, that takes effort.
samnewnew 12 years ago
college educated hunny. it has alot to do with it, if you read the article.i guarantee 98.9% of those letters of complaints were americans. i bet it was something to see, especially the animal be dragged out of the street. donate your money to the humane society. thanks for your concern. what have you done this year for your community? adopt a pet i have three
Susan 12 years ago
Don't see what people eating horses in Florida has to do with the working conditions of horses in the Bahamas? I also agree that there are many children who are not cared for and that needs to be changed as well, however, I don't see why the horrible treatment of animals can't be addressed at the same time. Tourism is extremely important to the Bahamas and if some tourists are disturbed by this maybe they will think think about visiting somewhere else or at the very least refuse to ride in a Surrey. No reason with the amount of money that the Bahamas takes in from tourism that they can't fix this problem.
samnewnew 12 years ago
volunteer your services to help clean up the horses working condition maybe a little help goes a long way who knows. you can save a life
RUKiddingMe 12 years ago
The fact of the matter is that there are policies in place whereby the horses are not to be worked between certain hours - this is flagrantly disobeyed. We as a nation should be ashamed of our treatment of animals.
Chuck's quote is spot on -
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” ― Mahatma Gandhi
Susan 12 years ago
You can sign this petition if you like http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A…
CFerguson 12 years ago
I hope the police officer(s) and all involved in dragging that horse are too drug at high speeds until their skin falls off. As for the Surrey driver, he needs to be drug behind a truck to his death because that is what he did to this horse. There was absolutely NO reason why someone could not have called a crane truck to pick this horse up dispose of her properly. Let me guess the Surrey driver could not afford it - then he SHOULD NOT HAVE THE HORSE!! I have rode and owned horses for years, the cost of a crane truck would have been nominal in comparison to the cost of taking care of the horse PROPERLY.
WAY TO GO MY FELLOW BAHAMIANS! Now we have tourist not only talking about the nasty attitude of Bahamians, the disgusting streets they have to walk, the crime they have to endure but now our cruelty to animals ... way to go! Unfortunately it will take the cruise ships to intervene and drop the tour for anything to be done! DISGUSTING!!!
The carriage rides are great tourist attraction but standards either need to be implemented and the Humane Society needs to be given the necessary power to enforce the necessary standards for ALL animals. Just how this happened to a horse, it happens to dogs, cats ... all animals.
CFerguson 12 years ago
PS. I have seen horses live to 50 - 60 yrs old and look much better than "Bloody Mary"! So someone please explain to me how a 22 yr old horse (still pretty young) simply drops down dead! Can the Surrey driver honestly say there were no signs? Can he admit to feeding the horse REGULARLY and SUFFICIENTLY? Did the horse have water? UNLIKELY! If it is determined that the horse died from exhaustion, it is confirmed that the horse was ill-treated! It was too young to die of exhaustion. Surrey driver, I hope she haunts you every-time you look in the mirror.
Nata1012 12 years ago
The Surrey driver should go to Jail! We finally have to start bringing forward better laws that protect the animals on this island( or well all the islands in the Bahamas )...and get police officers to enforce them!How embarrassing is it that the police thought it was appropriate to drag a horse behind the back of a truck????If dead or not, that just shows how much respect they have towards animals here!!! Those policemen should loose their licenses! I feel as though some Bahamians are still stuck in the 17 and 18 hundreds when it comes to the way they treat animals! And if they feel as though that's the way to go and there is no need to move forward into modern times with their opinions and actions, then how about we go back to slavery..... Might as well bring all the ignorance back from back then if they still treat animals the same way! ... evolve people! Do better and be better - instead of going backwards - which the Bahamas seems to be trained on doing...
Disgusted -
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