By Noelia Cigüenza
Cartagena, Sep 30 (IANS/EFE): The traditional Spanish-style tours on horse-drawn carriages in the Colombian city of Cartagena have come under scrutiny in the wake of the collapse of four horses this year, with animal rights activists campaigning to shut down the popular tourist attraction.
In less than one week, a horse collapsed while drawing a carriage with passengers and another suffered a heart attack and died in the middle of Bocagrande avenue, one of the main areas frequented by visitors.
Along with its colonial walls and fortresses, the horse-drawn carriages are emblematic of Cartagena, a port city founded in 1533 by Spaniard Pedro de Heredia on the site of the Calamari Indian village, and the Caribbean city was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1984.
"The horses do not have proper shelter, they do not get appropriate food and the handlers do not treat them well," animal rights activist Fany Pachon told Spanish news agency Efe, adding that the horses were forced to work long hours and live in "less than humane conditions".
Cartagena, considered the main tourist destination in Colombia, has about 60 horse-drawn carriages providing tours of at least one hour around the colonial district.
Many travel packages include tickets for carriage rides.
The carriage operators, most of them from the Chambacu neighbourhood, keep their horses in makeshift stalls within the city limits, Pachon said.
"Those are Iberian traditions that are not part of our Cartagena character," Pachon said, adding that carriage operators "justify" the harsh treatment of the animals by saying it was the way things were done in Bolivar province, where Cartagena is located.
Animal rights activists' complaints led the prosecutor's office to ask Mayor Dionisio Velez to order the suspension of carriage tours.
A 2013 ordinance regulates horse-drawn carriages' operation, limiting work hours, horses' weight and the number of passengers, but animal rights activists contend the regulations are not being enforced.