We are not going to say that they are as known as the mayor, but not far. In Questembert, near Vannes (Morbihan), Havana and Gladez are part of the decor. “These are local figures,” admits the councilor, Boris Lemaire. For the past fifteen years, the Breton town has called on two draft horses, which it “employs” as municipal agents in its historic heart. Four hours a day, these territorial horses are assigned on various missions such as the maintenance of green spaces, waste collection, school transport or for walks for tourists in summer.
No one had previously found to complain about this initiative adopted since by other municipalities. Many even praised its ecological character and the role of social bond played by these horses. Until this petition posted online in mid-April to claim to stop the use of horses by the municipality. Signed for the time being by a little less than 25,000 people, it comes from the departmental referent of the ecological Revolution party for the lifetime of the deputy Aymeric Caron, who militates for a radical and anti -Pécist ecology.
“Horses treated as slaves”
“Shocked to note that even today, a horse can be used as a simple working tool for the benefit of a municipality”, the author of the missive evokes “a practice of another time. “Elected municipal in the neighboring commune of Rochefort-en-Terre, Serge Buchet also denounces” the sufferings “inflicted on animals, whose” bodies are put to the test, forced to draw charges often too heavy. »»
He wants proof of the case of a carriage horse which had collapsed in 2022 in the streets of New York, victim of exhaustion and heat, or a similar case in Spain the same year. “It is a clear exploitation of horses, which are treated as slaves and not as living beings with needs and rights,” he insists, returning to the example of Questembert.
-Two coccilères take care of horses on a daily basis
By discovering the petition, the mayor of the town strangled a little. Elected in 2020 by bringing together left forces and environmentalists, Boris Lemaire says “understand and respect the convictions of this radical fringe”, sharing their point of view on animal suffering. “But I still believe that there are other fights to be waged in favor of ecology in the broad sense and the protection of biodiversity,” he said. He does not appreciate the method of his colleague either. “I offered to come and see how it was in our town, but he never came and prefers invective,” he asserts.
According to him, Havana and Gladez are not mistreated as the petition suggests. They would even be pampered, according to him, with two co -farms employed by the city who take care of them and take care of them on a daily basis. The elected official also recalls that in this rural territory, “the horse has always been part of history and has always accompanied man in work in the field. »»
A counter-pest online
Attacked by the antispecists, the mayor of Questembert therefore does not intend to prove them right and stop the use of horses in his town. He can count on this on the support of Internet users who have launched a counter-petition to ask him to keep the horses. “These same activists wish to prohibit horse riding, and very soon, it must be feared, domestic dogs and cats, always by highlighting the respect of the animal,” they quip in this text posted on Sunday and initialed for the moment by 1,200 signatories.
