Although draft regulations on the use of animal-drawn vehicles on the road, including horse drawn carriages (karozzini) for hire or reward have been published, certain statements required clarification, the Animal Rights Coalition said.
It said in a statement that consultations were held between Transport Malta and the Karozzin Committee and the General Workers Union, who also represent the karozzin drivers and the Animal Rights Group/Coalition.
However, no animal welfare representative was ever present for the meetings and the AWC had never held any dialogue with the Karozzin Committee to learn in depth the problems the Karozzin horses face on a daily basis.
The ARC said that a very worrying factor was the cost of the first three preliminary, approved shelters by MEPA, costing €20,000 each, which include water and drain facilities.
The designed planed "roof" consists of Eroco strips of wood with spaces between one another, allowing both sun and rain to filter through.
Had the architect from the ADT department consulted with the Karozzin Committee, the obvious would be a complete roof coverage protecting the horses from both elements. Karozzin owners were being made to pay the exorbitant costs.
The Karozzin Committee was informed that, if they were not agreeable with the cost and designs, the project would be totally scrapped.
“We therefore seriously question why a tender for this project was never put forward, so offering alternative designs at more realistic costs,” the ARC said.
The ARC said that the World Association For Transport Animal Welfare And Studies had also recommended six monthly veterinary inspections and expressed concern at the lack of availability of water points for the quenching of the horses on their regular working circuit.
The coalition said it would welcome micro chipping of horses to enable tracking of their movements, possibly a veterinary department registering change of ownership and registering legal births and deaths.
It welcomed an article in the draft legislation which specified that apart from a number of clearly delineated occasions, no animal races should be held on a road.
However, the coalition said it was imperative that even on these specific events, due monitoring and enforcement of animal welfare regulations were closely abided to.
“In this regard, the coalition is of the view that until such cultural practices are completely phased out, due consideration is given to those circumstances, such as conditions of the roads especially uphill and specified hours of the day (not in hot hours), so as to prevent such suffering to the animals concerned.”
The coalition said it was also concerned with other aspects of the legislation concerning the licence and training.