The animal rights group AnimaNaturalis is to deliver a petition to Palma town hall on Thursday which demands an end to horse carriages in the city and their replacement by electric vehicles.
The group says that three years ago there was a unanimous decision to amend the bylaw in order to improve horse welfare. Moreover, a year ago the councillor for animal welfare (Neus Truyol) sought public proposals for improvements to the bylaw. "But up to now absolutely nothing has changed and the horses have suffered another summer of exploitation."
Guillermo Amengual, the coordinator of Anima Naturalis in Majorca, wonders how it can be that in the past year there have been twenty denunciations and only one sanction. The carriage drivers, the group says, breach the bylaw without any penalties. As examples, there are often too many passengers, the horses operate in the full glare of the sun in temperatures that can get towards forty degrees, there are failures to comply traffic regulations and with hygiene conditions in rest areas.
Amengual claims that a blind eye is being shown to the welfare of the horses by political institutions and by the police. He is warning the town hall that the public is now very aware of the issue of animal mistreatment.