lucia

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ETJ 7 years, 8 months ago on INSIGHT: Is the horse-drawn Surrey above the law?

INSIGHT: Is the horse-drawn Surrey above the law?

Bravo Kim Aranha for writing this. Everyone who cares about animal welfare in this country should be commenting, and calling the relevant authorities on a regular basis. I challenge the Tribune and all other media in this country to be real journalists; investigate this and report on it, and keep following up. Instead of merely printing an opinion letter once every year or so, and getting a placating comment from a government department now and then, and then forgetting about it. Til the next horse drops dead on the street, or enough pictures of a bony and/or lame horse circulate online.

We wonder why our tourism dollars keep declining. We are stuck in the dark ages. The surrey horses are a perfect example. This is not culture. This is animal cruelty, plain and simple. The era when this was a charming, safe and humane excursion are clearly long past. Unfortunately, some ignorant tourists still participate in this horror, but many many more recoil at the sight of these poor horses and their old, chafing, broken down equipment, and how they are overworked day after day. Their lack of fresh water and food throughout the day is not only cruel but illegal, and if people could only see where and how the poor animals are housed at night, they would be even more horrified. Why are the laws not being enforced. Department of Agriculture? Department of Transportation? Tourism? Cabs Board? RBPF? VMAB?

A nation is judged on many things. As many more people around the world are becoming more aware and sensitive to animal exploitation, this is certainly one very visible issue we are being judged negatively on and rightfully so. Will we act... or will we continue to sanction this atrocity?