Please do not use horse carriages

birds

In various towns in India horse carriages are used to cart tourists around town.

Whilst this may appear very quaint, it often involves serious animal cruelty.

Many horses are poorly fed and rarely have access to veterinary care. Often their hooves are infested with parasites or injuries.

Furthermore, it is not uncommon that the horses get hit by cars and if the injury is serious, they are left behind on the road to die.

On 31st August, Plant & Animals Welfare Society (PAWS - http://www.pawsasia.org) received a call about a carriage horse that was lying unattended with a broken leg & bleeding profusely (see photo attached).

PAWS team immediately sent its animal ambulance and rescued the pony and hospitalized her at Bombay SPCA Animal Hospital. The animal was in great distress & the leg is likely to be amputated.

These kind of incidents can only be avoided if people stop using horse carriages. So please STOP! Thanks a lot.

Attached Thumbnails

 

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Haylo

It's not just carriages, of the riding horses I saw in Mussoorie, only a couple looked in good condition, a few had open sores and one was slightly lame. Those were the horses which looked good enough to put to work, I sincerely hope there weren't others which were hidden away!

I would suggest that if anyone (or at least anyone who has been around horses enough to tell the difference) ever finds really healthy looking horses in India, in harness or otherwise, they should make a point of using them, giving a good tip and letting it be known why. Similarly, if refusing a carriage ride, don't just say "no", say "no, because your horse has a sore". Sadly, money talks, and if they think their horse being in poor fettle is costing them business, they are more likely to act.

Where there are tourists, there will always be carriages, whatever country you are in. I have done some carriage driving myself, so I understand the appeal. I don't consider carriage driving cruel in itself, and it will never be stopped while there are tourists willing to pay for carriage rides, so I feel it would be more effective to concentrate on improving conditions for the horses and educating the drivers.

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Nick-H

Thanks, birds, for another good warning.

PeakXV

Are they all so mistreated in India? I don't think that we are all so inept that we can't make a discretionary decision on the fly when required. I took a tonga @ Sawai Madhopur once and the horse looked very well, much better than me at the time in fact ..... others I've seen were not in so good shape.

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Don't go to India ~ Pre-trip Warnings & Misconceptions?

Hyderabadi

That may have been the lucky one.

True.

PeakXV

Perhaps it was just purchased & the very first ride. Who knows. But I could see no damage in a slow trot down a country road.

Hyderabadi

Indeed..


....


Wonder, where that tonga guy purchased that better looking horse.. perhaps from Sawai Man Singh ji?

Anyways, don't see how any one could blame you for taking a slow trot down a country road or or two.

PeakXV

I can't tell you how many things I've been told not to ride, buy, eat, rent, hire, donate to, or otherwise in India. 'You'll definitely get fleeced, support goondas, shorten that elephants life, get sick, bad karma, spend way too much' etc. Many times they're absolutely right - not always though.

I once had a woman charge me outside a carpet shop & informed me that the carpet I had just bought was woven recently by children in Kashmir. When I told her it was in fact a pre WWII Ersari rug - she looked extremely embarrassed & melted quickly away into the crowd.

Don't get me wrong - it's nice to be 'told' what not to do by Watchdogs or those more in the know - but I also think that many of us are quite capable of making our own case-by-case decisions on the plethora of daily solications that occur witin our Indian travels.

Hyderabadi

That's why you're a "Naan.tering Nabob" or a Super Maha Guru Member, or whatever, as I'm supposed to be a 'Maha Guru Member'. Soon to be changed, as discussed elsewhere..

Even without your telling me what you were told not to ride, buy, eat, hire, rent, donate... etc., the goondas, karma.. and all that.. I realize that you have deep knowledge and respect for all things Indian or sub-continental, base on your posts/threads.

I appreciate and respect you for that.

Now, I'm confused, I have no clue what you are talking about.. So you are a pre WW II rug expert? Or is it wrong that the carpet was woven by Kashmiri children? Or, shouldn't she have melted away into the crowd? Help me out.

Please, make your own decisions, India nor India Mike is remotely dictatorial, nor Watchdoggy (sp?), as far as I know and have experienced. Hope you agree with me?

Who ever said you are not capable?

And, how's this all related to Please do not use horse carriages ? Strange are the ways of IM.

I believe there is another thread or few....

PeakXV

Nothing to do with me really - apparently some anti-child labour advocates assume all rugs sold in India are made in India & by means of child labour. Nothing could be further from the truth. Similarly, the condition of the horse shown by the OP is not representative nor the end result of all horses that draw carriages in India. Horse labour, elephant labour, child labour, coolie labour etc. can be extreme in places like India & anywhere in the world, no doubt - but it's not 'all' that way or as bad as the anti advocates may want/have you to believe.

Most likely 'some' of these horses might be much better off making extra rupees hauling the occasional tourist around - rather then the alternative of lugging much more heavier loads of cement, lumber or other bulk weight items that over stress their cardiovascular system. That's all.



Exactly(I think) - let's keep it that way!!

SitaParityaga

No tongas with little sick horses. You're right, bird, they aren't quaint.

Hyderabadi

Still confused, actually, when you used "I can't tell you..".. "I once had a woman charge me...", "Don't get me wrong..", I was almost certain it was, really something to do with your personal, first hand, experiences.

But, what do I know, my mother tongue is not English, it's Telugu. My apologies. Sorry....

You, may be right about that. No doubt.

PeakXV

Now I'm confused. Haven't been into that good Bombay gin again, have you? Okay-fine then pour me a double with some freshly squeezed lime and a little umbrella twirly stick to stir with.

Hyderabadi

After the Dr. Bombay gin, it does get into Grey areas.

Hey, I did say English was my second language, and even apologized? Did you miss it? No?

Twirly umbrella sticks , per your suggestion, are ... how shall I say... a bit...colorful... nevermind.

Cheers!

dzibead

I can't recall ever seeing a horse on the road in India that looked to be in good condition. I'm sure there are some that are well fed and in good shape at wealthy people's riding clubs or private stables, or at those outfits that run the high-end Marwari horse safaris in Rajasthan, or at the race track, but the average horses I saw (and they seemed rare compared to bullocks, cows, water buffalo, donkeys, goats, ...) all seemed to be in a sorry state.

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