Dear Editor,
We have never mastered the science of taking care of our horses. Rather, inhospitably, we have excelled in maltreatment of the good, old horse by putting him to slavishly pull a cart with a payload far in excess of what his strength allows and then happily brutalizing him when he refuses.
We have been doing this to this faithful animal ever since we put him to work for us and we have been doing this to him for all the world to see and doing so, probably with some amount of unadulterated but false pride, too. The horse must be saying to himself that man is a beast – a very cruel beast – and he may be right.
Despite his loyalty, we have cynically labelled him a beast of burden and a jackass, a perfect Modern English word meaning stupid.
If he is a thoroughbred, we put him to race with the expectation that he will win and provide us a windfall. We place large bets on him. In fact, worldwide gambling in horse races in 2008 was estimated at US$115 billion. We give him a name like `Sea Biscuit,’ ‘Flying Dust,’ ‘Noble Colombia’ and whip him on the racetrack to win us big bucks, and most times ‘put him to sleep’ when he damages a leg because he is now a useless creature and a liability.
We continue to treat him with contempt, constantly beat him with special whips which leave welts and scars on his skin, give him dried grass to eat and polluted trench water to drink, although we owe him a nutritious and fulfilling meal. Not uncannily, these are the rewards we give to this so-called friend of man.
The world has evolved and transportation traditionally provided by horse-drawn carts is being replaced by automobiles such as the truck, trailer and van. In many parts of the developing world, carts once pulled by horses, donkeys and bulls have long been retired and have since taken their rightful place in history.
But, as a people, in Guyana we seem not to have gone through that psychological evolution with respect to the horse. We insist on continuing with this form of animal slavery and brutality never pausing to ponder the almost similar fate our ancestors endured under the colonial master’s whip as they helplessly toiled to fill the coffers and expand the powers of the colonialists. What the colonialists did to our ancestors is replicated in our treatment of the good, old horse today.
A recent exchange of letters in the press by an East Bank Demerara resident complaining of the environmental degradation and hazard posed by these animals outside a lumber yard in his area and the response from the head of our Environ- mental Protection Agency (EPA) to the letter, prompted me to write, lobbying for an end to this ignominious aspect of our history and modern existence. I wish that others could join me in bringing an end to this form of animal brutality. What say you the Guyana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (GSPCA)?
The horse-drawn cart has been around for centuries and provided a popular mode of transportation prior to the advent of mechanization, and was even used in ancient wars and conquests. Horse-drawn chariots are sacredly associated with some of the leading religions of the world like Hinduism. Hinduism’s Bhagavad Gita is derived from the Mahabharata War, a major Sanskrit epic, in which horse-drawn chariots were used.
Closer to our time, the Industrial Revolution which commenced in the 18th century and ended in the 19th century, and birthed the first cotton mill in England, brought technological changes which will forever influence the future of humanity and the way we live. Machines were invented and put to use as humanity moved away from an agrarian, handicraft economy to one dominated by industry and the manufacture of such machines whose strength were measured in horse power (hp).
But, in this part of the world, and admittedly, in many other parts of the developing world, the horse is still being exploited by cruel man. In the developed world, the horse is treated with love and respect and enjoys a healthy relationship with his master. In some countries, he happily pulls a light carriage, takes visitors around and is well rewarded at the end of the day.
A ride through the streets of Georgetown on any given day, probably with the exception of Sundays and holidays, is certain to provide you a first-hand view of horses engaged in the brutal activity we call “horse-carting.” We can find brutalized and malnourished horses awaiting their painful loads of lumber which they often have to pull for miles without food or water. If they refuse, the brutality they endure can be compared to the time of the barbarians.
In us humans, some of us have lost touch with what is humanity and perfect examples exist within the ‘horse-carting business.’ Like some minibus drivers who care not about life and limb and who I believe come from special branch of humanity, some ‘horse-carters’ also seem to have evolved from a special, barbaric breed. They seem to get a ‘high’ from beating the helpless and hapless horse and putting him through a daily nightmarish grind which, as dumb as he may be, the horse would prefer to die rather than endure.
In addition to providing us with a classic example of barbarism, horse-carts in Guyana are at the centre of a major health and sanitation issue, particularly with the every-present stench and filth in Georgetown which the always-out-of-money City Hall cannot clean.
It is a national embarrassment and eyesore in our country to continue to have such an activity carried out by a few. The time has come for this cruelty which is horse-carting to be brought to an end in Guyana and let our horses gallop away and neigh in relief.
Yours faithfully,
Mahadeo Panchu
