Rome eyes for buggy horses

by Justin Smith

(ANSA) Rome, May 22 - Hauling Rome's tourist buggies is a hazardous job, but it may be getting safer as the city council considers setting up an emergency veterinary service for horses injured in the line of duty. Proposed by municipal commissions on the environment and personnel, the service would consist of an on-call veterinarian and horse ambulance capable of transporting the animal to the ''emergency room'' at an equine clinic run by the Italian mouted police. ''The veterinarian would need to be able to reach the animal on site in order to assess the situation and administer first aid and pain medication before accompanying it back to the clinic for further treatment,'' explains Donatella Loni, president of the Rome chapter of the National Order of Veterinarians, who was consulted in devising the plan. The proposal comes after a pair of incidents last year in which carriage horses were seriously injured while on the job.

In August, a horse collapsed from exhaustion on Rome's glamorous Via Veneto while hauling a carriage uphill under the sweltering summer sun. Then in November, a horse had to be euthanized after it slipped near the Colosseum and broke its leg. The accidents fueled criticism from animal rights groups who say that Rome's hot summers, dense traffic and cobblestone streets make for an inhumane working environment. ''If the city is going to allow the buggies to continue operating, it has an obligation to care for the horses when they're injured,'' says Claudio Locuratolo, a spokesperson for the national animal protection group ENPA.

Locuratolo says that while an emergency veterinary service for the horses is a step in the right direction, the ENPA will continue lobbying to have them taken off the streets for good. Joining in the criticism is Italy's new Minister of Tourism, Michela Brambilla, who has said the buggies are anachronistic and detrimental to Rome's image. But honeymooners Alan and Samantha of Charleson, South Carolina disagree. ''It was a little expensive'' says Samantha, ''but a lot of fun and very romantic.'' Alan and Samantha say they paid 80 euros for a 30-minute ride, which took them from the Colosseum to the Spanish Steps. ''Horse and buggies have three centuries of history in this city,'' claims Giovanni Maioco, a carriage driver who has been carting tourists around the city for over twenty years. Maioco says that he and other carriage drivers recently had their horses given a check-up and that all of them received a clean bill of health. ''We've been working with horses all our lives,'' says Maioco. ''We love them and we know how to treat them right.'' Equine emergency care is one of a number of proposals currently on the drawing board to protect buggy horses. Another idea put forward last year was to equip the buggies with microchips and pedometers to ensure that the horses were adequately rested and kept off the streets during the hottest hours of the day.

The chairman of the city's environmental commission, Andrea De Priamo, says that while he is optimistic about the emergency veterinary service, carriage drivers may eventually have to move from Rome's congested city streets to its shaded park trails. Alternatively, De Priamo said his commission was exploring the idea of offering carriage drivers the opportinity to trade their horse and buggies in for vintage cars that they could drive where they wanted and at any time of day.