Making two horses repeatedly pull an oversized cart on concrete, with a dozen or so people on it, regardless of weather, is animal cruelty. I’m sick of seeing this thing in South End, the poor animals look like they’re on their last legs. It’s like f***ing Black Beauty scene in downtown Halifax. Can we please just ban these things?! —I hope you all fall off
This article appears in Oct 29 – Nov 4, 2015.
You can be sure those poor animals are suffering, having to walk on concrete all day, especially uphill. You are right, I Hope, this should not be allowed in this day and age. Same goes for zoos, another evil way humans torture animals.
Bullshit. Horses are designed for work.
Yes, don’t go to farms or Old Montreal… you’ll be in for a shock.
In Europe, they eat the damn things (quite delicious really), so don’t go there either.
The OB should be thankful they weren’t alive 100+ years ago when horses were used to plow, churn mills, transporting people, ether a rider or carriage/stagecoach, etc. Those horses are well taken care of.
This isn’t 1915. It’s 2015 and we don’t treat animals like beasts of burden anymore. I have 2 Yorkies who I prefer to most people. Especially people who have so little love or regard for our 4 legged friends. What cruel comments!
My guess is that you really just want to see that stupid thing outa downtown. Oh my nerves, if I get stuck behind that fucking thing on Lower Water or Hollis again…
I wondered about this myself but the horses don’t look to be straining and seem to be well treated.
I also found this info:
“As a general rule, horses are capable of pulling 2-3 times their own body weight on wheels over paved ground pretty much all day long. The average carriage horse today weighs 1200 – 1800 lbs. The typical commercial vis-à-vis used in cities around the world weighs 900 – 1000 lbs. Even fully loaded, a carriage is quite easy for a large horse to pull. It is the equivalent of an average person pushing a shopping cart with a few gallons of milk in it.”
http://www.equiculture.org/carriage-horse-…
Caballo, exactly right. They are not being abused or starved. If they were, they would be incapable of doing the job and would cost a lot more to operate. Only an idiot operator who wants to go out of business quickly would not properly attend to their animals. A lot of animals enjoy working, just like people. I suppose you think it’s cruel for horses to be used for ranching or dogs on sheep farms or dogs pulling sleds.
I actually asked a co-worker who grew up on a farm about this bitch today as I was curious. Her family has had horses for decades. Her reply was that horses want to work. If they are domestic (not wild) they will get frustrated and sometimes aggressive if they don’t have a job to do.
^^ “they will get frustrated and sometimes aggressive if they don’t have a job to do”
… just like people.
Those are draft horses you peckerheads. They’ve been bred for hundreds of years to do nothing but pull.
I miss when Papa would hook the appaloosa’s up to the sled and pull us around the hay field in the winter. He would braid their manes and put bells on them. That was a lot of fun.
Big horses like that are meant to pull shit. That’s why humans bred them so large and strong.
Who cleans up the poo?
I’m not sure about here but in many other jurisdictions, horses are required to wear horse diapers.
Now I do feel a bit bad for the horses. That shit must get some itchy and smelly.
So…. horse depends?