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19.5K Views
8 years ago
Um, What?! This Horse Camp for Kids Involves Having Them Paint On the Animals for Fun
Image Credit: J Serafim Show
Just when you think you have heard all the ridiculous stories about animal cruelty, a new one comes in to top them all.
A camp in Brazil that is supposedly meant to teach children about all things equestrian had the bright idea to allow the children attending the camp to color and paint the horses. Instead of learning how to correctly handle a horse, how to care for them, and all the essentials to do with their diet and exercise, children are being allowed to cover horses in potentially toxic materials in the name of fun (and apparently art).
A photo of a poor, decorated horse at an equestrian camp in Brazil was posted on Facebook, and it received some well-deserved backlash, with lawyer and activist Ana Paula Vasconcelos saying, “they had the brilliant idea of putting the horse as a painting screen, saying it would be educational activity. They said it was a rescued horse, but that doesn’t justify it. Cruelty is the same.”
This white horse has been used as a canvas, with markers and paint covering almost its entire body. You will notice from the picture that there are less of these masterpieces on the horse’s rear, so perhaps the staff had a tiny amount of common sense left to tell the children not to go there, but still. Would you want paint and marker all over your face, or a bunch of excited children coming at you and drawing around your eyes?
The head of the school’s marketing, Muriell Marques, said the paints are not toxic “and does not harm the horse or the child.” Hold still then, Muriell, because we’d very much like to color you in…
There seems to be a strange precedent in these so-called equestrian camps for treating horses exactly the opposite of how horses should be treated. Unicorn Pony Parties in Colorado are hosting children’s parties where the horses are dressed as unicorns. This isn’t fun, this is animal abuse, and if the horses could talk for themselves they would be saying the same thing!
Care 2 has raised a petition demanding Hipeca de Brasilia, the Equestrian Society of Brazil, force the school to end this awful activity of horse painting. Please sign the petition to help stop this ridiculous cruelty to horses!
Image Source: J Serafim Show
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Oh for heaven\’s sake. These paints are manufactured for exactly this purpose. They are non-toxic to both the horses and the children(notice nothing was said about that possibility?) I have seen and participated in pony parties where the ponies are "painted", the ponies don\’t notice or care about the paint. They do care that they are receiving attention and love from the children. The children are told how to approach the pony safely and to not hit, or push on the pony, only to stroke or paint gently. However, having said all of that, if you want to be concerned about something…the pony in that they used in this picture appears to be seriously underweight. Now the petition does say that it is a rescue horse, so maybe its weight is improving, but that concerns me FAR more than the paint.
I came down here to make the same comment. If the horse didn\’t want her face painted she would not have let them. Horses are intelligent. The real question, imo, is \’did they tranquilize these horses to keep them calm?\’
Projecting personal values onto animals is the a very subtle and dangerous behavior of animal activism today.
I believe we should not force our culture on these people. We live in a multi-cultural world but many want to force ours on them. We interfere in the entertainments and even want to ban some of their cherished holiday icons. The same applies when we invite them in a migrants. We want them here and celebrate their diverse way of thinking. Why bend them to conform to a set of values only one culture wants?
You are being completely ridiculous. This is a very common practice in the U.S. As long as the paint is non-toxic there is absolutely no harm to the horses.