On Wednesday afternoon Italy’s Chamber of Deputies saw the introduction of a bill which, if passed, would ban "botticelle", the traditional horse-drawn tourist carriages, especially common in Rome.
So the solution would be a better enforcing of the rules, not to ban something that is somewhat tipical but it seems that nowadays we prefer to ban something instead of enforce the already present rules.
Agree, if they do not reinforce the ban it is meaniness too. But i’m not against the ban myself. We use animals mostly for two reasons: their body as an object (meat, leather, milk, etc), and their energy as a tool. In developed nations we replaced their physical effort with machines, what remains in is basically entertainment. Everyone with a pet will say their cat/dog is not merely entertainment, I know I’m being a bit crude here but animals aren’t really needed anymore in that sense. Dogs form a bigger exception than horses nowadays.
There are no horses in Italy being used for transport. Not even in the poorest village. Personally i think those horses could feel fine entertaining tourist by riding them around in carriages - if they’d treat the animal well. I think you’re right; this would have been a better solution as in the best compromise between what is good for these animals and what is ‘good’ for us humans. But this is equally good, if not better, for the horses. The losers here are the tourists who now miss out on this experience. That is too bad for them, honestly, but imo their loss is much less impactful as the win for the animals. Same logic applies to circus animals - it’s great for people to see a tiger do tricks. But is it really worth the suffering? I think not. This might be a less extreme case, but that horse wouldn’t draw that carriage if it wasn’t forced to. Ergo, i support this law.
But i’m not against the ban myself. We use animals mostly for two reasons: their body as an object (meat, leather, milk, etc), and their energy as a tool. In developed nations we replaced their physical effort with machines, what remains in is basically entertainment.
True, but in this case it was/is a tipical tourist attraction. I don’t see why we could not still offer it without mistreating the horses. Btw, then also the other places that offer rides with horses should be banned.
Everyone with a pet will say their cat/dog is not merely entertainment, I know I’m being a bit crude here but animals aren’t really needed anymore in that sense. Dogs form a bigger exception than horses nowadays.
You are not entirely right. For people who live in the city it is true, for people who live in the countryside animals, mostly dogs but not only them, are still working animals for a lot of things.
Personally i think those horses could feel fine entertaining tourist by riding them around in carriages - if they’d treat the animal well.
That’s the whole point. They could have enforced the rules (or make better ones if necessary) instead of banning something (which will probably end with the horses killed and sold as food).
But nowadays my impression is that all this “love” for the animals is used to hide the fact we do nothing for the people.
So the solution would be a better enforcing of the rules, not to ban something that is somewhat tipical but it seems that nowadays we prefer to ban something instead of enforce the already present rules.
Agree, if they do not reinforce the ban it is meaniness too. But i’m not against the ban myself. We use animals mostly for two reasons: their body as an object (meat, leather, milk, etc), and their energy as a tool. In developed nations we replaced their physical effort with machines, what remains in is basically entertainment. Everyone with a pet will say their cat/dog is not merely entertainment, I know I’m being a bit crude here but animals aren’t really needed anymore in that sense. Dogs form a bigger exception than horses nowadays.
There are no horses in Italy being used for transport. Not even in the poorest village. Personally i think those horses could feel fine entertaining tourist by riding them around in carriages - if they’d treat the animal well. I think you’re right; this would have been a better solution as in the best compromise between what is good for these animals and what is ‘good’ for us humans. But this is equally good, if not better, for the horses. The losers here are the tourists who now miss out on this experience. That is too bad for them, honestly, but imo their loss is much less impactful as the win for the animals. Same logic applies to circus animals - it’s great for people to see a tiger do tricks. But is it really worth the suffering? I think not. This might be a less extreme case, but that horse wouldn’t draw that carriage if it wasn’t forced to. Ergo, i support this law.
True, but in this case it was/is a tipical tourist attraction. I don’t see why we could not still offer it without mistreating the horses. Btw, then also the other places that offer rides with horses should be banned.
You are not entirely right. For people who live in the city it is true, for people who live in the countryside animals, mostly dogs but not only them, are still working animals for a lot of things.
That’s the whole point. They could have enforced the rules (or make better ones if necessary) instead of banning something (which will probably end with the horses killed and sold as food).
But nowadays my impression is that all this “love” for the animals is used to hide the fact we do nothing for the people.
Ikr