Dear Editor,
I just returned from a cruise from The Bahamas. Our ship spent a day in Nassau (December 29). As we exited from the ship, we saw several horse buggies carrying tourists. The horses were in bad shape; some had foaming and twitching mouths, others were limping. They were all dirty and very thin. Some had skin conditions that looked like rain rot.
Between rides the buggies were lined up under a long holding area. At some point I counted 11 horses in the line. Each "stall" area had a red watering dish attached. I walked up to see if there was water in the dishes but they were bone dry, most filled with garbage. One dish had some dirty water in it.
In between rides the horses were moved through the line so fast that they did not get a chance to drink from the one dish that had the water. I asked a young man -- he was driving one of the buggies -- why there was no water out for the horses in the other watering dishes. He just laughed and said that they gave them enough water. It was clearly not the case.
I was so disgusted and disturbed that I had to go back to the ship. From the ship I could see the area and saw that the same horses were ridden from 8 a.m. (when we arrived) and some were still there at 4:30 p.m. There was no food or water and they barely were able to stop to rest. They were standing in traffic with the cars, breathing the fumes all day.
Sometimes the last horse carriage in line was chosen by a tourist, so the horse was forced to back up, turn around with the carriage attached. As the hours passed they became even more lethargic, hanging their heads and dragging themselves and the carts.
Even though it was December and the temperature was only in the 70s, the horses looked hot and thirsty. I can't even imagine how they feel during the summer months!
Towards the end of the day, the men were filling up buckets with water and carrying them toward the horses. I thought that they would water them at that point but I was mistaken. They used the water to clean the rental scooters.
I am wondering if anyone keeps an eye on these poor creatures. It was just horrible to see that so many people looked at those horses, but did not see their suffering. Please let me know if there is anything that can be done to improve the lives of these horses.
Thank you.
-- Andrea LaChance

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