A carriage horse collapses in Krakow. Is it animal abuse?
One of Krakow’s iconic carriage horses collapsed near the Main Square on Thursday, prompting accusations of animal abuse.
A witness told TVN24 that, around 13:00 on św. Jana in Krakow’s Old Town, a horse began limping and then dragging its leg as it pulled a carriage. According to the report, the driver only stopped when the horse finally collapsed.
The same witness claims that the driver ignored veterinary advice over the phone to cover the horse in a blanket and not move it into a trailer.
When a veterinarian arrived on scene, the horse was diagnosed with muscle cramps. Although this condition can be induced in horses by overwork or poor diet, local police told reporters that they would not charge the drivers with animal cruelty until an investigation with the help of a specialist.
This is not the first time Dorożki Konne KJKM Partyka, the company which runs the horse carriage operation, has come under public scrutiny for the treatment of their animals. In 2016, one of their horses was euthanized after collapsing near Krakow’s Centrum Kongresowe.
No exceptions Animal cruelty is a crime and the horses shpuld be treated as the stars they are!
Animal crueltry is a crime they should be treated as the stars they are!
Yes it is. Krakow does not need it, neither does Melbourne which for some peculiar reason has horse drawn carriages with the horses defecating everywhere with no catch bags or nappies.
Disgusting, it should be banned, don’t care about the selfish tourists who only think of themselves, I care about the poor voiceless horses who have no choice!
This is my third visit to krakow I love the market Square but I hate seeing the horses being abused and used as slaves. Tourist should be ashamed they are the biggest cause by paying for this abuse to Continue it needs to her banned. I am in krakow now and it is a hot day these poor animals are stood I. High temperatures it needs to stop and stop now
We are currently visiting Krakow and the sight of these poor horses and how they are treated is disgusting. I feel so angry and helpless seeing them every day.
I won’t be coming back to Krakow and will be advising others against visiting until these carriages are banned. Such a pity, this is a lovely city but the blatant cruelty to these horses ruins the experience.
There needs to be more publicity about this problem to inform tourists not to use them and put pressure on the government to ban these carriages.
https://www.change.org/p/pollish-government-ban-horse-drawn-carriages-in-krakow?recruiter=false&utm_source=share_sponsor_thank_you&utm_medium=copylink
Wanton cruelty let the drivers be pulled around and mistreat them like they do to the horses I will not visit this place and will tell my friends outdated barbaric practise if these beautiful horses could talk they would not talk to the likes of them
Yes, this is animal abuse! Animal cruelty is terrible. I think that all countries need a law that protects animals, especially homeless ones.