For six long years, animal rights groups in Israel have been fighting to have horse-drawn carriages banned from Tel Aviv and finally, finally it has been made law. One of my very earliest posts, when I’d been living in the country only a matter of days, was about my shock and horror (and failed attempt to intervene or to reach the police) when I was living in Yafo (Jaffa) and I saw a man and his grown sons and a lot of heavy junk piled on a horse-drawn cart. This poor animal had every rib showing, it was swaybacked, old, exhausted and it was terrified. It refused to cross a busy boulevard (Sderot Yerushalayim) and the man climbed down and hit the animal with a whip in its face again and again while the poor animal screamed and screamed.
The animals that pull the “alte sachen” (old things) carts and so forth here in this city are regularly abused and mistreated and live and work in the most deplorable conditions. I’ve seen horses that were ill-shod with infected feet, being forced to jog along pulling a heavy load, their hooves leaking pus from infection. Thank you, thank you for passing this law!
I have no tolerance for anyone who abuses animals, and I think a fitting punishment might be to hitch them to some heavy load and treat them the same way for a day or so.
As a horse owner I appreciate this very much.
Hey Sir John, I didn’t know you had horses (though as a royal knight I should have suspected!). I’m a bit horse crazy (yeah never got over that teenaged fascination with them) and would love to hear more about yours!
I never even considered this was an issue or occurance in Israel. I absolutely don’t want animals or horses abused. I was born in the country(U.S.) and know the best treated animals are your friends not yuor property. Sounds like a good law.
I wonder what will happen to the existing horses. I suppose the wagoner will get rid of them now that they have no further use? Is there a way of buying them, or a place to care for them now?
On the way home thought to see a sheep in the ditch, wool soaked they do have a very bad death, first the cold than the drowning.
Were two swans.
The Texelaar is a breed pure for production, a kind of barrel on four legs, once a a while you do see one of them which is unable to get on it’s legs again, imagine like sleeping on your back.
If one is too late the animal will die of thirst and hunger, the unnatural position of the intestine, birds like raven will peck out the eyes.
The survival of the fittest.
Survival of the fittest but sad nevertheless. And regrettable.
Lynne,
Zehn Ochsen und ein Bauer sind zwölf stück Rindvieh.
Eduard Mörike
Doesn’t that mean that the poor old horses will be sent to their deaths as they’ll now be of no use to their owners?
This victory was the result of a 10 year campaign by Concern for Helping Animals in Israel (CHAI) and its sister charity in Israel Hakol Chai. They worked hard: rescued and rehabilitated cart horses, exposed abuse and shut down one horrendous abuser who was hacking live horses apart with an axe in front of one another, submitted a proposal for change to the Tel Aviv City Council and wrote letters appealing to Mayors around the country to ban this practice, held demonstrations, organized a well-attended protest concert at which Israeli singers and musicians volunteered to perform and organized an international letter writing campaign, and more. Determination and hard work eventually bring about positive change. See http://www.chai-online.org for more information.
Judy, I hope not. Perhaps they will sell them or treat them humanely. Some people have no regard for animals at all. Just yesterday one of my stupid neighbors told me that animals cannot feel pain or suffer. She justifies her neglect and mistreatment of animals. She took a kitten to our Kill Shelter because it scratched her when startled. She says she doesn’t feel bad about it because animals have no feelings. I just walked off from her; I was so mad.