Horse Welfare E-Petition Tops 1000 Signatures
An online petition entitled “Keep the horses out of the heat” has topped 1,000 signatures after being started a few days ago after a horse collapsed in Dockyard.
The petition says, “Animal welfare is a direct reflection of our community. We are not well represented when we force horses to work during the hottest time of day. This needs to change.
“Worried about disappointing the tourists? Working our animals [literally] to the ground is guaranteed to disappoint them more.
“Animal Welfare needs to be revisited in legislation. Please think of the poor horse suffering on the ground and sign so to show that we are a compassionate community and are serious about not letting this happen again.”
One person who signed the e-petition said, “I’m signing because these animals are made to pull people around in the blistering heat.
“I was happy when they stopped being able to operate in Hamilton and they also need to be banned from Dockyard. So many times you would see these animals foaming at the mouth from thirst but being forced to carry around tourists to make them happy.”
“I strongly believe these horses should NOT work from July to September. It’s too hot. It’s cruel. There is no shade in Dockyard for them and no water,” said another person.
“I have have owned, rode and cared for horses my entire life. They have served as functional tools, helping us make money to feed our family countless times over the years,” wrote another person.
“Regardless of their usefulness though, we have never and will never sacrifice the health of our horses or any other animal in order to feed our family.
“A good horse will keep going endlessly if you ask it of them, until they literally drop, as proven in this situation. Shame on them for taking advantage of the willing heart of this horse.”
- Photos courtesy of Jill Kowalchuk
Please, also sign this petition…
I’ll sign the petition if it also includes amendments to address human rights protections for people with disabilities, equal access to tertiary education for all residents, and a public database which shows all positions and JDs that are on a work permits with the purpose of succession planning.
As much as I love animals…it is a problem when their affairs get more attention and assistance then our own people.
So until you get what you want, you don’t care that animals are being abused in Bermuda? You seriously think that a database for work permits is more important than the suffering of innocent animals?
Okay…so what, until you get what you want you don’t care that our fellow men and women are abused? Look, I think the important thing here is not to sit on our laurels and rest confident and complete in having done our bit for animals when there is real human suffering all around us, too. We don’t intercede enough with children. We don’t bother with including men on panels and bodies concerned about family and children. We don’t acknowledge that men can even be abused by women. We don’t seem to care that a growing portion of the population is disenfranchised. We think poverty is somehow ‘deserved’. And our society perpetuates the perspective that women who wear short skirts and makeup are ‘asking for it’, we think racism is always the other guy’s problem, and the list goes on. No one’s saying that animal rights don’t matter, they do. But it’s hypocritical and just absolutely ridiculous if we don’t start caring at least as much about our fellow humans. Then there’d be a lot less animal abuse, too- imagine if we lived in a world where all people were nurtured, treated with respect, loved, and cared for. There would then be no reason to abuse an animal, either.
What’s up it already has been established that they will now operate in the morning up till 8:30am and then again in the evening;
It’s for all over Island and not just for the horses in Dockyard or Hamilton…
While I do believe we as humans are capable of caring about more than one matter at a time, animal cruelty cases command so much more press it seems than human-to-human cruelty or negligence. I think that is a damning statement on how we function as a society. There are fathers actively excluded from their children’s lives- that’s too bad, but no one’s trying to change the laws about it. There are women being denigrated or mistreated by their husbands, boyfriends, etc- it’s a shame, but doesn’t make anyone want to change laws to better protect them. Children are the victims of all manner of cruelty- but we don’t intercede. But stick some puppies in a sunny pet shop window or watch a horse faint, and everyone’s hearts and minds are won toward helping them. What happened to helping your fellow human? So I’m NOT saying that this doesn’t deserve attention, and indeed legislative changes, but the level of negligence and outright cruelty we exhibit toward one another still goes unchecked. Shoot a lion in Africa, and watch the galvanizing of society. A young black man gets shot in the backa tahn, and after the initial press, no one cares. It frankly makes me sick that animals’ lives matter more to the general public than those of the most vulnerable members of our human society. So this is a shame, but who the hell are we kidding- we are a society of monsters, and no petition is changing that anytime soon.
So true,not too long ago people were being treated and sold as cattle, so the mentality of the stigma still exist.
Some people would not dream of being intimate or or being in a relationship with someone of another race, but allows a dog to lick their face.
Because animals don’t have a choice. Humans make choices for them and those choices are often cruel and thoughtless. When children are the victims of cruetly, we do intercede, children, like animals, are subject to the same vagaries. They both need to be protected from cruelty and neglect.
Why isn’t he owner being prosecuted for cruelty to animals?
Pats self on back for signing petition, turns around and eats tortured cow. Bravo.
Haha I always think the same thing.
“Stop the Dog – meat festival Korea!” *chomps on chicken nuggets*
Fed up Bermudian ……hit the nail right on the head……we must have compassion for every concern….human …..animal….social or…..Political…and….. otherwise…….! Hypocrisy must stop..!Where is that petition …..so I can sign it…??
This note is for Fed Up-
I am guessing you never have experienced the love of an animal whose sole purpose is normally to make their owner happy, they depend on their owners to make wise decisions for them. They are not cruel, the people are cruel to them and in most cases they just accept it. They have no voice. I get tired of hearing about people and the dumb choices they make, people can report their abuse,animals can’t. So yes I for one will always read and donate to the animal causes and it seems there are many like me. Like I said people have choices and they could report some of the madness that happens to them.
Oh but I have, and I have pets whom I adore, and look after as they are members of my family- because they are. But let’s not get personal. How many of us do things like assist the homeless, feed those who can’t feed themselves, take in children in need? You assume that every human being is equally capable. We aren’t. We do more for animals than we do for one another, and sorry- that’s just plain sick. Prove me wrong. I could say that I’ll bet that you have never had a friend who was the victim of abuse, or that you have never experienced the love and closeness of human family…but that solves nothing. We need to do more for one another, too. Not all of us have ‘choices’, or voices that will be heard. Look at Mr. Sharrieff’s email. That. So yeah, I’d sign that petition, but please let’s not allow these issues to eclipse or obviate others.
If you have men who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men. ~St. Francis of Assisi
But I don’t think St. Francis saw a day when the roles were reversed, and people cared more for animal welfare than they do for human welfare. No one cares about the disenfranchised, those who are wrongfully discriminated against, those who have voices but are too frightened or too discouraged to use them, etc. I just want to see real progress made in human interactions. We can’t replace that with our love and care for animals.
It starts with animals then it moves to humans. Just like slavery.
But now we’ve evolved into a society that no longer enslaves its fellow citizen and doesn’t generally condone animal abuse…but we don’t really value human lives with the same vigour or passion as we do animal lives. All lives matter, no?
Animals over people, good grief! We get all upset when an animal is abused yet Bermuda’s streets are full of homeless people sleeping in alleyways and outside buildings. Where is the care for them???? Perhaps, people like animals because they don’t talk back.
Fed Up Bermudian says:
August 10, 2015
Okay…so what, until you get what you want you don’t care that our fellow men and women are abused? Look, I think the important thing here is not to sit on our laurels and rest confident and complete in having done our bit for animals when there is real human suffering all around us, too. We don’t intercede enough with children. We don’t bother with including men on panels and bodies concerned about family and children. We don’t acknowledge that men can even be abused by women. We don’t seem to care that a growing portion of the population is disenfranchised. We think poverty is somehow ‘deserved’. And our society perpetuates the perspective that women who wear short skirts and makeup are ‘asking for it’, we think racism is always the other guy’s problem, and the list goes on. No one’s saying that animal rights don’t matter, they do. But it’s hypocritical and just absolutely ridiculous if we don’t start caring at least as much about our fellow humans. Then there’d be a lot less animal abuse, too- imagine if we lived in a world where all people were nurtured, treated with respect, loved, and cared for. There would then be no reason to abuse an animal, either.
It is a pity you are falling on deaf ears ,SOME people will never understand and frankly just don’t care.Ive been singing this song for years sir.
People see my sentence about ‘why we don’t care for other humans’ and assume that I don’t care about animals, nothing is further from the truth. Thank you for taking the time to read exactly what I wrote- I’m not trying to dissuade people from caring about animals, but rather encourage them to look at least as kindly and compassionately on their fellow man as they do any poor animal. I think that the outcry over animals often eclipses what we should be feeling about other humans, and we seem not to care as much for people. It’s harder to care about people as compared with animals. They’re more trouble- you can offer help to have your hand slapped away. I get it, but that in no way should diminish the responsibility we have to one another.
I guess after signing the petition they go home and abuse the nanny we’ve heard the stories.
Exactly! Or rather than outright abuse, let’s talk about neglect- the lack of compassion comes in many forms. We need to do better.
feels like this horse has made history for all the other horse. It must have had to been so well behaved to take the heat to the point of passing out.