Horse-drawn carriages banned from Killarney National Park

Horse-drawn carriages banned from National Park

First posted on Thursday, July 16th, 2009 By Charis

Killarney-np

Traditional horse-drawn carriages have been banned from Killarney National Park because the drivers have refused to fit their horses with ‘nappies’.

The traditional vehicles, known as jaunting cars, carry tourists around 15km internal roads around one of the finest national parks in the Emerald Isles. The Irish National Parks and Wildlife Service banned the jaunting cars on Tuesday (14 July) from entering the park until dung-catching devices are fitted.

“An unfortunate consequence of such a high volume of horses frequenting the park is that the roadways are consistently fouled with horse dung and has for a long time, been a concern on environmental, health and safety, aesthetic and tourism grounds,” said statement from the NPWS.

The NPWS commented that the drivers showed an unwillingness to co-operate with the service and as such they had been forced to take action.

However the 66 drivers have all commented that the wearing of so called horse nappies un-ballenced the horse and put the passengers at risk.

“This is devastating. This is a national disgrace and we are very, very upset over it,” he said.

“We’re going to lose contracts and Killarney is going to lose money because tourists won’t bother coming.”

But the NPWS said it had been in talks with the drivers since 2007 over how to tackle the dung issue. It added veterinary experts had been consulted and that the proposed dung receptacle had undergone a number of tests.

“Although the dung catcher is attached to the car and not to the horse, jarveys have repeatedly signalled their complete opposition to the new devices but have never demonstrated where they perceive the problems to lie,” said the NPWS.

“But it [the dung-catcher] is in widespread usage internationally, from Vienna to Vancouver. It is clear, therefore, that these devices do work and are safe to use.

“The NPWS emphasizes its desire to avoid conflict and has acted in a fair and reasonable manner but has been compelled to take this action as a very last resort”

The NPWS added it is happy for the jarveys to continue to use this park but that they must own up to their responsibilities.

[Source HorseAndHound & Image by Darkmavis ].