Heat takes its toll on horse

jackie bugeja

Aug 23rd 2012, 22:20

nixtieq niccara xi kliem joseph ihobbom zwiemel u ihobb xolu ma nafx dawn il qlajjiet xi inhuma ziemel storda ftit u nassigura li jinsab tajjeb u alek gvern andu bzonn izied iktar shelters mux tnejn biss gol belt grazzi joseph dedikat alijom dan nista nahilfu jien u kull min jafu kif tista tkun kuccier u ma thobbomx vera ma tafux x qed tajdu . Dak jamel sijat ihares lejn zwiemel jitpaxxa jarom jieklu mela jahqarom .....

Ivan Calleja

Aug 21st 2012, 15:29

For me this is Animal Cruelty!! Animal Welfare Department please note!

Reuben Micallef

Aug 21st 2012, 00:23

I recall perfectly seeing a dead horse in Msida by the local bank (on the way to Valley Road) a year or so ago. It sure was a hot summer day!

It was pointed out that we should not take it against horse owners because they are "making a living" out of it and that horses have done such tough "jobs" for centuries .... BUT in the last 20 YEARS temperatures have risen unrealistically, thus invalidating .... what was valid for centuries.

I hope the authorities take note and that something is done along the lines of:

- A severe penalty to be given to owners abusing horses. OR
- A tour in the Karozzin by Night for the summer season

I am sure that it would be far more popular than it is in the morning and tourists would be more willing to have a go. . . in the refreshing air while keeping all parties happy - ESPECIALLY THE HORSE -

Victor Pulis

Aug 21st 2012, 00:07

Horses may not have votes but animal lovers do.

matthew scerri

Aug 20th 2012, 20:48

As always its the little things which get the attentioon of the public. i am an avid horse enthusiast and am disgusted by the state of some the horses in the karrozin industry. to be fair there good owners and there are bad owners. if we have to criticise and involve animal welfare and what they should be looking for... as apparently they dont have a clue... the majority of these horse are either too small in stature or undermuscles to pull the weight of the carriage, driver and passengers.. .mostly already overweight. Some horse are abysmally shod and some of them are even lame in walk and trot. and its is noticeable to even a lay person.

yes they now have shelters.... some owners dont give a crap about these shelters and choose to remain outside in the sun. there are water taps provided howvever none of the horses have buckets near them most of the time. also shade or no shade, if no breeze around the heavy harnesses are enough to make a heavy load.. too much to bear. most countries impose strict veterinary checks, and most importantly curfues which are temperature related and not time. Every country has its traditions but none of them should be at the cost of helpless and voiceless animals. Welfare conditions should be stepped up before accidents happen... not after!

Steve Zammit

Aug 20th 2012, 18:29

povru ziemel imma dak m'ghandux vot no problem

Richard Galea

Aug 20th 2012, 14:46

Instead horses we can use ricksaws dragged by horses owners.

jenny saliba

Aug 20th 2012, 14:24

SHAME on the owners of these poor horses and shame on the government for allowing this CRUELTY !! what the hell is wrong with people?!!! isn't it common sense at its best that this is torture !!! THIS SHOULD BE ILLEGAL, especially in summer !! STOP THIS MADNESS - PLEASE !!!

James Tyrrell

Aug 20th 2012, 14:07

Why not put the horse in the carriage and let the idiot owner drag it about Valletta all day? These people don't give a damn about their animals so it is up to tourists to put an end to this once and for all.

V Cassar

Aug 20th 2012, 14:04

First of all I do love animals and am totally against cruelty. But please bear in mind that horses have been doing these jobs ever since man started civilization and have been living beside us humans for a very long time, doing the arduous jobs humans couldn't. My point is, do not be over sentimental just because a horse is carrying a karrozzin, they were bred to do these jobs.
That goes without saying that I in favour of enforcing animal rights

Chiara Maria Demanuele

Aug 20th 2012, 11:59

i don't agree with this job in the summer months... it's not fair taking all the animal's energy just for him to get paid! 3 nights ago, I saw a horse and carriage at St.Julians in the middle of the night! Horses need sleep to you know not only humans! i always say, i can wish the driver and horse change... Than he will know what it feels like!

Ms Maria Vella

Aug 20th 2012, 10:38

These services should be abolished or at least stopped for the summer season. Just because animals don't have a voice or a vote doesn't mean they are their for exploitation - says alot about his owner, who should not be allowed to have animals after this episode and please don't give me any bull about being his livelihood, I really don't care, he can find another job where he can suffer!

Mr Ryan Portelli

Aug 20th 2012, 10:15

Yet another custom that will not stop any time soon just because it’s a ‘Maltese Tradition’ ...

Mr T Zahra

Aug 20th 2012, 08:52

My company which is a local DMC dealing with the organisation of conferences and events as well as leisure groups visiting Malta on cruises, do not offer Karrozzin rides to tourists during the summer months. We get many requests for this option but we refuse to support the drivers in summer. When we do use them, this is during the winter months only and the route is dictated to the cab drivers by ourselves, meaning they must pass from Marsa to get to valletta which is a gentle hill passing Go mobile head office and in through st Anne street

John Pace

Aug 20th 2012, 08:45

How come the owner did not switch with the horse; That would have been a ride worth paying!

T. Aquilina

Aug 20th 2012, 08:45

Standing for more than 15 minutes in the sun in these temperatures is certainly a form of torture - and it has been used for this purpose. No surprises then when horses get heat exhaustion and literally drop dead or senseless. It makes one sick and so frustrated to see any creature being made to suffer in such an inhumane way day after day. Tourists should be made aware of the situation, some probably do not realise how much sun these horses have been enduring all summer or how many hills they are expected to negotiate. We are still waiting for someone to do something about this.

Marthese Mussett

Aug 20th 2012, 01:15

His owner should ve carried on the journey without the poor horse...and carried the tourists on his back..in the heat.

R Vidal

Aug 20th 2012, 00:54

Kelma wahda .....KRUDELTA

Frank Borg

Aug 20th 2012, 00:35

Poor horse, you can actually see he's grateful to the people assisting him, this heat is too much for them, they should be well protected.

Carmen Borg

Aug 19th 2012, 23:30

Why is the horses owner not fined and charged with cruelty?. Why didn't someone tie the owner to the Karozzin and get him to pull the turists to finish their journey? What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander I say>

Ronald D Cox

Aug 19th 2012, 22:40

Been coming out to malta for many years and i have never used the horse and carrage because its cruel they should ban this form of transporting tourist about in the hottest periods of the day evenings is a different thing still dont like the idea, i guess the horses would go to slaughter if the owners could not make a living out of them

Kenneth Galea

Aug 19th 2012, 22:34

Poor soul, bless him. Does anyone remember a horrendous and brutal summer like this year??? Even summer lovers are saying they have had enough of it. Let alone the animals. And we have more and more coming this week with 34c and 35c, never ending. It has gone on for far too long, since the end of April just few drops of rain and scorching heat with temperatures almost always around 35c and above. High humidity seems to have also kicked in now.

Liz Tanti

Aug 19th 2012, 22:00

I can't stand the ignorance of this Island most especially when it comes to animals!

J Caruana

Aug 19th 2012, 21:58

Animal cruelty at its best

Harold Caruana

Aug 19th 2012, 21:52

There is a paticular cab driver who who I alway get to see returning home after a days work at Valletta. I sometimes see him driving his horse all the way up the Imsida road near the PL club then he proceeds to going all the way up to San Gwann from the roundabout at the 'tankijiet tal-gass' and all this takes place at around three in the afternoon. one should see the state of this poor horse, and all this after a days work in the scorching sun at Valletta.

Ms Sylvia Zammit

Aug 19th 2012, 21:33

Good - but I hope he was not expected to keep working once he got his energy back!

Philip Mizzi

Aug 19th 2012, 21:23

To my mind, this business of karozzin is nothing short of ANIMAL CRUELTY. What is worse is that it seems that the competent authorities are powerless to do anything about it. This is the second horse reported to suffer extreme thirst and fatigue this summer!! The first one was luckier because his daily ordeal of pulling a heavy karozzin laden with il-kuccier and a load of turists is now over, because the poor creature died. At least he will not suffer anymore.

Apart of our intense heat and strong sunshine, it seems that these poor animals are also being subjected to thirst! It has been only recently that a little shade was provided to these animals at some places!

Another factor that greatly increase the hardships of these poor horses is the fact that our capital and parts of Florianawhere these poor horses generally work, are not built on level ground, making the load of these poor animals much more harder. It-telgha tal-Kurcifiss is a case in point! This hill is one of the hardest hills that these horses have to pull their weight through!

I have seen horse driven carriages to carry tourists in other countries, including Tunisia and Vienna where the carriage is pulled by TWO horses and not just one flimsy creature like the horses we see pulling our karozzin! The horses seen in the countries mentioned above are not only BIGGER in size than the local horses (and therefore stronger), but also the land where they work is generally LEVEL without steep hills.

My appeal to all tourists and others that love animals is to think again before making use of this cruel service, at least until these animals are treated humanely and their suffering is removed!

The picture below (click on link) shows horse driven carriages in Vienna where the land is much more level, the weather is much more cooler and TWO (yes two) horses pull the load, not one poor animal.

Note also the blue ‘sack’ just behind the horses to contain the horse’s droppings (faeces). Mela inhallu il-hmieg taz-ziemel jaqa fl’art! Ma tistax tifhem kif f’dan il-pajjiz l’anqas xi haga semplici bhal din ma tigi infurzata!!

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/6798075/DSCF0043.JPG

Ruth Seychell

Aug 19th 2012, 20:43

the sun is damaging not only to humans but also to animals..that is pure animal cruelty to make them walk around in this blistering sun...but obviously horses dont have a voice or a union to stand up for their rights

c scudi

Aug 19th 2012, 20:31

Here we go..another case of animal misuse...These poor horses stand saddled in this infernal heat to take tourists round those monstrous hills in valletta!The carraige design,going back centuries,is already far to heavy.Add to that the driver and 3-4 tourists and leave the rest to the imagination!!!

joe briffa

Aug 19th 2012, 20:20

Simple solution...stop Karozzin whatsoever....in Gozo they do nothave it why should we have it? For many reasons apart from the heat,dirty roads,pavements,traffic hazard, many do not even stop at traffic lights,blocking traffic,damaging roads and taking much parking space

stephen mifsud

Aug 19th 2012, 19:34

There is a song by the band America called A Horse With No Name . lets give this horse a name and make it the poster horse for this cause to protect all our beautiful animals from this heat so we can save them from animal slavery .

Robert Lewis

Aug 19th 2012, 19:30

MTA should hand out fliers to tourists to boycott these rides at least for summer. Anke karozza tishon ahseb u ara povru ziemel, imma f'dal pajjiz l-Awtoritajiet BB.

Joseph E Briffa

Aug 19th 2012, 19:10

I have been saying it and I say it again....horse drawn cabs should not be allowed on the roads between 1000 and 1800 during the hot summer months, i.e from mid June to mid September. Gandhi said that if one wants to know something about the people of a country see the way they treat their animals. Here, most cab drivers treat their horses like dirt, they overload the cab, they don't carry water cans, nor sponges to cool the poor horse, they sit or stand in the shade while leaving the horse in the scorching sun for hours on end. Even after the horse shelter has finally been completed you ca still see horse cabs parked outside just because the cabbie wants to be closest to the ship lest he misses passengers Of course it's only the horse that stays in the sun, the cabbie is smoking and drinking away in the shade. Downright shame. In Vienna I remember that no horsecabs were on the streets when the temperature was hovering around zero; it was only after some days when the temperature went up above +5C that the cabs made an appearance and the back of the horses was covered with a blanket. That shows civilised behaviour.

Victor Pulis

Aug 19th 2012, 18:59

This scene is happening everyday to many horses pulling karozzini. Tourists boycot this barbarity please.

Francesca Abela

Aug 19th 2012, 18:38

Horse carriage rides should be banned between 12pm and 4pm from 1st June to 30th September, at least the horses would be out of the worst of the heat. It is torture for these poor animals to be driving around in the worst of the heatwaves we are having.

Peter Murray

Aug 19th 2012, 18:35

Notwithstanding the many issues relating to adeqiaute sheletr and drinking water facilities these karozzin should not be allowed to operate in the heat of the day-at least from 1 to 4 in the afternoon.

A. Borg

Aug 19th 2012, 18:29

Missu komplieh sidu l-vjagg u halla lil dak il-povru ziemel jistrieh!

Franco Farrugia

Aug 19th 2012, 18:17

A truly Animal Welfare Act, and a truly animal-loving person in charge of animal-welfare in Malta would not allow a situation, for instance, whereby horses or other beasts of burden are made to work their way during the horrific sun-hours of the day! How many times have people wrote in, about the matter? And these lamentations always falling on deaf ears?! What about the many times we have all voiced our concerns about horse-shelters? Everything continually falling on deaf ears and we use animals ONLY to the entertainment of human beings! Disgusting! Absolutely disgusting!

Franco Farrugia

Aug 19th 2012, 18:14

It is CONDEMNABLE, and this to say the least, that this Government has been in power for so many years, and has made considerable improvements in the country, as was its duty, and then left the issues of animal welfare to go to rot! Absolutely condemnable that the Government authorities in charge of the issue of animal welfare are not truly animal-lovers, are mere Government employees sent to this section without any real feeling for animals and without any real wish to improve the lot of non-human animals in our country.
And this is seen by the fact that there is no real, animal-centred animal welfare act in place which is truly to the benefit of non-human animals! CONDEMNABLE! ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING!

A CHIRCOP

Aug 19th 2012, 18:12

Nistagbu bil mohqrijja li naraw gewwa Spanja ( Mohqrijja fuq il- Barrin ) u nibqaw siekta bil mohqrijja li naraw ta' kulljum gewwa pajjizna !!! Pajjiz fejn il poplu tieghu jiftahar kemm ghandu ghall qalbu l-annimali.
Nithassar meta nara xi ziemel igorr xi karru ikbar minnu, mghobbi b'xi erba turisti ta' piz Alla J'Bierek!!! Mhux li nghamlu ix-xelters imma li nishaqq li din it-tip ta' mohqrijja ghanda tieqaf immedjatament !!! Jekk hemm min ma jaqbilx mieghi, intih l-opportunita sabiex ghall gurnata wahda biss jigbed il karrozzin fuq daru, halli ikun jaf xi jkun qieghed ihoss dan il- povra annimal!!!!

renald schembri

Aug 19th 2012, 18:08

sidu kellu ilma gol carriage jek le multa u permezz ghal sena

Paul Borg

Aug 19th 2012, 17:55

Din ix xena qed tigri kulljum fuq is sur ta Marsamxett. Il-Kucciera fid dell, u z -zwiemel fix xemx. Regoli ta xejn ma ghandhom, u l-Puluzija u L-wardens jibqghu ghaddejjien qisu mhu jigri xejn.
This is an everyday scene in Valletta. This cruelty has to stop and horses should not be allowed to be driven more than 4 hours every day.

Charmaine Sciberras

Aug 19th 2012, 17:34

poor frail little horse... the size says pony... I really dislike the owners of these horses who put them through days on end in the sun, make them walk down the hill from Floriana... Poor animals... I would love to see their owners stand besides them for a day or pull the karrozzin for a mile...

Paul Camilleri

Aug 19th 2012, 17:34

And then we complain about cruelty to animals for not having horse shelters.
"He gave the animal water as he waited for the animal to regain his energy." As if water had enough vitamins to make the horse endure the sun's heat while going on sightseeing trips around Valletta

stefan pace

Aug 19th 2012, 17:22

u iz ziemel bla lehen issa jigi ghada u nergaw narmawh mhux problema zep!!!!!!!! only in malta

Frank Darmanin

Aug 19th 2012, 17:20

Going by the size it looks more like a pony. Should'nt be made to pull heavy loads especially in the heat.

V. Cauchi

Aug 19th 2012, 17:17

From the shot and the cab position, it looks like the young horse was being driven uphill near the Harbour War Memorial "taking tourists on a trip round Valletta".

I have been saying for quite some time the cruelest part of the story is not finding shaded places for horses, but when they heave themselves, cab and driver uphill carrying loads of tourists. Crucifix Hill and Great Siege Roads are other cases in point.

Rita Zammit

Aug 19th 2012, 17:10

Poor Poor Horse :(

Mr Edward Muscat

Aug 19th 2012, 17:10

Horse trips should be banned in Summer.

Tonio Bone

Aug 19th 2012, 17:06

Horses pulling cabbies in and around Valletta are definitely an attraction for tourists but so cruel on the animals! This is not Rome where everywhere is flat! This is Valletta which is a roller coaster ride with all the hills and slops that are murder for these animals in winter, never mind 34 Celcius plus searing heat this time of year.
My compliments go to the sensitivity and quick actions of the handler in this case. His focus probably saved the animals life!
Something needs to be re-thought here!

James Buhagiar

Aug 19th 2012, 17:04

Povru ziemel!