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Cart Horses and Donkeys: Abuse and Rescue OVERVIEW
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In Israel, as throughout the Middle East, horses and donkeys are the victims of abuse. People use them to carry heavy loads, like furniture, watermelons and other fruits and vegetables in summer, and rocks from construction sites.
In November 2009, following a 10-year campaign by CHAI and Hakol Chai, Tel Aviv banned the use of horse-drawn carts. However, the ban was not enforced, and in Tel Aviv cart horses are back at work on the streets. In 2011, Hakol Chai launched a new Witness Campaign to end the cruelty.
In other parts of the country, also, cart horses continue to suffer. Even in those cities that require licensing and inspections, the legislation is not enforced, so most of these animals are not licensed, inspected, or provided with veterinary care. Often, they are fed only the damaged produce or nutritionally inadequate forage containing burrs that cause sores in their mouths. At the end of the summer season, or when lameness prevents them from being useful, they are abandoned.
Hakol Chai has launched a campaign specifically to help donkeys—the Save the Donkey project. As part of this project, a veterinarian will help provide medical care for the animals who have not received treatment because of financial constraints.
Municipal veterinarians say they do not remove equine victims from their abusers because they have no place to take them.
CHAI and Hakol Chai have rescued several horses, and we are planning to establish a Horse and Donkey Sanctuary.
International Efforts On Behalf of Carriage Horses
Watch the trailer for Blinders — The truth behind the tradition, an award-winning documentary about the cruelties of the carriage-horse industry in New York City. These carriage horses suffer from many of the same abuses as carthorses in Israel and throughout the world. Read about the movie and the carriage horse industry on the Blinders website.
See Horses Without Carriages International.
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Tiny
donkeys also are made to pull loads far too heavy for them, and they are
beaten frequently. Their hooves are often left untrimmed
for so long that it becomes difficult and painful for them to walk. And, for
some reason that we don't yet understand (possibly malnutrition and
overloading at an early age), donkeys are sometimes found abandoned on the
road with broken legs. CHAI provided an Israeli animal activist with video
camera equipment in order to obtain video footage of abused horses and
donkeys. This photograph shows an
abused donkey whose ears were cut off. Kolbotek, a widely watched
exposé program, aired the footage, and the program's host called for the
intervention of government authorities to prevent and stop the abuse.
Our first rescued horses:
