A number of you answered the call for volunteers to give carriage horses and mules a voice and helped us educate the public and sign up over 60 new advocates on Saturday at Paws in the Park! Our cotton candy machine provided by Pure Fluff Inc was a huge hit for young and old!
While we were celebrating and educating at Paws in the Park, the scene downtown for the horses wasn’t so fun. We received the below alarming concern about a carriage wagon horse that sounds to us like a horse in serious distress…and no City vet or vet tech to check it out (the City’s vet lives and works in Aiken SC….132 miles away). Here’s what the concerned visitor wrote:
“I first walked to horse and asked if I could pet. He (the employee) said yes. Horse hanging head low. Sweating only some in the sun. Said oldest horse in group when I complimented. I then mentioned it was breathing way too fast in medical terms. He stopped and looked at me. Said they get a big tub of water. I said that he needs more than that. He said it rests July and august. I said today it is too hot. He said it was getting a 45 min rest soon. I just looked at him. He loudly rose off and said he was taking it now. I didn’t believe him. Called and officer called Me back. He could not do anything. Animal control could only respond this Monday. Cop explained that these animals do have time on farms in the summer. Explain to him that doesn’t help the animal or the situation today and I can imagine if I saw the situation happening just today, it was happening ALL THE TIME. I HAVE A PHOTO OF CARRIAGE riding away.
Here are some facts:
It is true, according to the City Ordinance, animals get time off at farms (at least according to the Ordinance). Here’s the problem with the City Ordinance; there is little or no oversight by the City of Charleston for the majority of regulations concerning carriage animals in Charleston. Carriage operators/owners have oversight.
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The City does an outstanding job of promoting tourism and mollifying tourists and citizens’ concerns with practiced and instructed statements about animal welfare; however, the lack of oversight is written into the ordinance.
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The City does not have a Vet nor a Vet tech in Charleston and has no one to examine horses well-being on the weekends (as stated by the police officer above)
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The Vet who is the City’s vet lives and works in Aiken SC (132 miles away) and specializes in equine fertility issues. The City’s Equine Manager was hired with no professional accreditation with equines.
Here are suggestions if you want to be proactive and give the horses and mules a voice.
IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING (and take a PHOTO or a VIDEO).
1) Please file a formal complaint with the City Livability Department. [email protected]
2) Go to Yelp https://www.yelp.com/writeareview and
Trip Advisor. https://www.tripadvisor.com/UserReview and other rating sites and tell them your experience! People read those and that can spur a lot of positive pushback.
3) Start a petition yourself. With people in your own profession? Check out our website for relevant information. www.charlestoncarriagehorseadvocates.com
4) POST on your own social media!
READ ON for the propaganda (well-rehearsed and memorized)
According to the concerned visitor, a barn employee took her into a barn and showed her what a great barn is and how well they groom the horses.
Please remember that horses don’t work in barns, they work on City streets.
The Wagon Industry loves to show off their neatly swept barns. They love to show off their grooming skills. What they might not talk about is that these horses and mules pull approximately 2 1/2 TONS per wagon per-hourly tour. Tours can be held 8 hours a day and there is a little loophole in the ordinance that allows the wagons to continue as “livery” (taxicabs) taking conventioneers and wedding parties etc. long after the regulated “day” has ended. They also likely don’t mention the fact that the temperature is measured FOUR stories in the air over a hotel where cool breezes blow. And that the temperature whereby the animals are taken off the streets by the City is 95 degrees, measured FOUR times. That’s the most extreme temperature in the nation. Nor might they tell you that the “rectal” temperatures are recorded by the for-profit BARN people with only occasional City oversight. In 2009 the City had an Independent vet take a look at the Industry’s practices. The vet pointed out that many stalls are antiquated and more appropriate for the 18th Century.