Horse-drawn wagons to fade into oblivion in Paraguay soon
3 Feb 2014 3:42 AM IST
It’s a tradition that goes back as long as anyone can remember.
Within weeks, however, many will be spending their remaining days at a farm sanctuary far from the city.
A city ordinance that takes effect in mid-February bans the use of horse carts by the small army of people who scavenge cans, cardboard and plastic from garbage bins.
Belgian-born businesswoman Maris Llorens is helping by giving the horses sanctuary at one of her ranches. She is offering cart owners $350 per each horse as a first installment toward buying three-wheeled moto-carts.
She and other animal rights activists have long worried about the haggard horses, often ill-fed and sometimes mistreated, that trudge through Asuncion, where daytime summer temperatures average about 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit).
The Leopard company that makes many of the carts is offering credit to impoverished junk collectors with no collateral so they can slowly pay off the $4,000 price.
‘I’ve been driving horse-carts for twenty years and I use what I earn to support my horse and my family,’ Antonio Martinez said in Guarani, the indigenous language of Paraguay. ‘To earn $10, I must work 14 hours a day. I hope to earn more with moto-cart.’
City councilman Hugo Ramirez, who helped organize the program, said he was able to take a census of about 800 horse carts, though ‘there are many others who do not want to be registered.’
Within weeks, however, many will be spending their remaining days at a farm sanctuary far from the city.
A city ordinance that takes effect in mid-February bans the use of horse carts by the small army of people who scavenge cans, cardboard and plastic from garbage bins.
Belgian-born businesswoman Maris Llorens is helping by giving the horses sanctuary at one of her ranches. She is offering cart owners $350 per each horse as a first installment toward buying three-wheeled moto-carts.
She and other animal rights activists have long worried about the haggard horses, often ill-fed and sometimes mistreated, that trudge through Asuncion, where daytime summer temperatures average about 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit).
The Leopard company that makes many of the carts is offering credit to impoverished junk collectors with no collateral so they can slowly pay off the $4,000 price.
‘I’ve been driving horse-carts for twenty years and I use what I earn to support my horse and my family,’ Antonio Martinez said in Guarani, the indigenous language of Paraguay. ‘To earn $10, I must work 14 hours a day. I hope to earn more with moto-cart.’
City councilman Hugo Ramirez, who helped organize the program, said he was able to take a census of about 800 horse carts, though ‘there are many others who do not want to be registered.’
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