 A Carriage Horse
|
Aug. 1, 2003 — After putting up with the smell for centuries the Viennese city authorities have finally had enough: the horses that trot through the streets with their elegant carriages will no longer be allowed to foul the streets of the Austrian capital and will have to wear special diapers.
As many as 70 carriages clatter through the capital's picturesque streets each day and the horses that pull them have been free to deposit their pungent manure in neat but odorous trails along the way.
Until recently the coachmen, a tourist attraction themselves with their smart uniforms and bowler hats, had a deal with the city hall to clean up the mess generated by their beasts. But last year they simply tore up the contract.
|
 
 |
|||||||
So having been saddled with a new and very smelly problem, the local authorities after much head-scratching came up with a solution: a prototype dung sack that coachmen could suspend from their animals' rear ends.
"We tested different types of leather and in the end decided on one lined with lamb's wool," said Birgit Flenreiss, environment spokeswoman for Vienna's city council.
As a consequence, starting Jan. 1, coachmen will be fined if they fail to fit the new-style horse diaper while on tourism duty.
Vienna's coachmen are furious about the new measure and they have the support of animal rights groups, who question the efficiency of the new dung collectors.
According to the "Four Hooves" animal protection group the horses become sore after wearing the new sacks for more than three days.
"Not only that, but the horses sweat under all that lamb's wool, which increases the risk of infection," said Verena Zimmermann, a spokeswoman for the group.
But Flenreiss said that is simply not horse sense and she has accused disgruntled coachmen of deliberately wrapping the horse diapers up too snugly, causing the equivalent of baby rash.
The coachmen retort that, in any case, they think the new system stinks as much as the dung-spattered streets of their venerable capital, even if other cities like Prague have adopted the new technique.
But the city authorities are not going to be intimidated by sentimental appeals to tradition. Coachmen — and women — they said, will simply either have to put diapers on their animals or sign a new street cleaning agreement with them.
And to show how determined they are, at the beginning of July they started carrying out spot checks on the roadworthiness of the city's carriages — looking out for faulty brakes and ill-fitting wheels.
"We are sending out warnings of spot checks for the moment," said Vienna official Ernst Graf. "But the next time there will be no more warnings," he added.
< news main
Name: Domestic Horse (Equus caballus)
Primary Classification: Equidae (Horses) Location: Original populations occurred in central Asia. Habitat: Feral populations are found in temperate grassland, forest and rainforest. Diet: Feral animals eat grass; domesticated animals eat hay and grain. Size: Up to 1 ton in weight. Description: Highly variable coloration. Long neck supporting large head. Large eyes and ears. Long hair along neck and forehead. Deep chest. Barrel-shaped body. Long limbs. Solid hoof on each foot. Long-haired tail. Cool Facts: They can twist their long ears to locate sounds without having to move their bodies. Males curl their top lip in what's called the flehmen response, which heightens their sense of smell, allowing them to determine females' readiness for mating. Conservation Status: Domesticated |
||
