SCREENSHOT from Hazel Zel’s Facebook Page
CEBU CITY, Philippines— The horses that give the public kalesa rides are used to hard labor.
But Cebu’s high temperature had left one horse exhausted and dehydrated and later collapsed on Leon Kilat Street on Friday afternoon, May 17.
A certain Hazel Zel posted videos of the horse’s poor state on her Facebook account hoping that it will raise awareness on how animals are treated.
According to Zel, it was about 4:17 p.m. on May 17 that she witnessed the horse collapsed. The kalesa had two to three passengers.
“I was on my way to work when I saw this happened. The horse was shaking and seems dehydrated. I wasn’t able to help because I was in a hurry and saw that a lot of people were already crowding the horse and it might worsen the situation. I took a video instead, praying and hoping that animals can get the right treatment from us too” she said.
In the video, the kuchero can be seen gently whipping the horse to get it to stand. After a few minutes, he then assisted the horse to get back up.
Netizens expressed their anger upon seeing the videos, noting the way the driver treated the horse.
CDN Digital reached out to Dr. Alice Utlang, head of Department of Veterinary Medicine and Fisheries (DVMF), about the incident and and said that they will be taking legal actions against the kuchero.
“I instructed my vet in-charge to look for the guy (kuchero) in the video and we’ll file a case against him for animal cruelty, ” said Utlang.
“(We) will also ask CITOM to suspend the license sa iyangpamasada apil ang tag iya sa kabayo (to operate including the owner of the horse),” said Utlang.
CITOM is the City Traffic Operations Management, which has since been renamed as the Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO).
As of 9:10 a.m. on Saturday, May 18, the post already reached 12 comments, 312 reactions, and 1,000 shares. / celr