I recently interviewed Dr. Kristen MacDonald, a board certified veterinary cardiologist in the College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, who has worked at the Animal Care Center of Sonoma since 2003. I asked her what she thought of the platforms of the current debate over banning horse-drawn carriages. Here is what she had to say! To see the platforms, click here: |
"I definitely agree with the ban on the carriages. Walking on the hard pavement, especially for so many hours per day really puts them at higher risk for laminitis which can be fatal and extremely chronically painful if they survive. It can also cause stress on the joints and long bones. I'm not sure about in the carriage horses, but at least in race horses for comparison, stress fractures from repetitive motion is a big problem and can lead to catastrophic failure of the long bones eventually, forcing them to be euthanized. Stress to the body in general is a huge factor since it is known that it can cause gastric ulcers in horses. These are painful and can become even more so when they eat. If they don't want to eat regularly due to the stress and pain, colic can be a secondary complication. Their GI tract really is designed to be grazing throughout the day. Obviously in the conditions they are in, that's not possible, again predisposing them to colic, some of them deadly. All six platforms you listed and really important issues and I'm glad there's people finally doing something about it! I also have concern for their mental well being since they don't really get a break to socialize, graze and just be horses. I've seen a lot of horses like that develop vices like weaving or cribbing ect. They can become aggressive and lash out at people or their stablemates as well.
I think laws and regulations could be put in place to help solve the problems, but I find in animal welfare the enforcement of these laws is always questionable. Finding the funding and man power to monitor, charge and prosecute people seems to be almost impossible. A lot of times the punishment is lenient as well so people don't take the laws seriously."
Thank you Dr. Macdonald for your input and expertise!
I think laws and regulations could be put in place to help solve the problems, but I find in animal welfare the enforcement of these laws is always questionable. Finding the funding and man power to monitor, charge and prosecute people seems to be almost impossible. A lot of times the punishment is lenient as well so people don't take the laws seriously."
Thank you Dr. Macdonald for your input and expertise!