The Buenos Aires senator Pablo Morillo, from La Libertad Avanza, presented a project that seeks to prohibit the use of horses and other animals to pull carts throughout the province of Buenos Aires. The initiative aims to ban animal-drawn traction, create a system for rescuing equines, and establish transition programs for workers who depend on this activity.
The proposal defines animal-drawn traction as the use of animals to pull carts or other devices through their own strength. The future enforcement authority would be tasked with supervising compliance with the norm, receiving complaints, conducting veterinary checks, and ordering the preventive seizure of animals in cases of abuse, cruelty, or abandonment.
Animal Protection
One of the central points establishes that horses removed from the activity cannot be sold, slaughtered, rented, or used for tourist, recreational, or sports activities. Additionally, the use of animal-drawn traction will be considered an act of animal abuse under the terms of National Law 14.346, with the corresponding penalties.
The project also provides for the creation of an offenders’ registry and the imposition of fines in cases of recidivism, in addition to requiring reimbursement of expenses incurred for the rescue and veterinary care of the animals.
Labor and Social Reconversion
Morillo clarified that the initiative does not seek to prohibit the urban waste recovery activity but to eliminate the use of animals for that task. To this end, transition, assistance, and training programs are contemplated to allow workers to access motorized vehicles as an alternative.
This would improve productivity, ensure decent working conditions, and reduce the risks of traffic accidents.
Project Foundations
The senator argued that horses used for traction often find themselves in conditions of dehydration, malnutrition, overload, and lack of sanitary controls, in addition to suffering injuries caused by carts and harnesses. He pointed out that in a modern society, the cruel agony and death from tetanus, abandonment, or forced rentals are unacceptable.
In many municipalities, despite having regulations, the transit of horse-drawn carts is still observed. In General Pueyrredon, the Deliberative Council will convene a debate day with the participation of cart drivers and animal protection advocates.
Benefits of the Ban
The eradication of animal-drawn traction in Argentina is justified on three main axes:
Animal welfare: urban horses often suffer from malnutrition, extreme exhaustion, and chronic injuries. Law 14.346 typifies and penalizes these abuses.
Labor reconversion: the provision of motorized carts or adapted vehicles allows recyclers to work with greater safety and dignity.
Road safety and public health: the circulation of horse-drawn carts on avenues and roads is a high accident factor. Additionally, the informal handling of waste generates infectious hotspots that can be mitigated with formal collection systems.
National Overview
Currently, there is no unified national law prohibiting animal-drawn traction throughout the country. However, various municipalities and provinces apply their own regulations. In districts like Lanús, Avellaneda, and Berazategui, where it is already prohibited, local governments have implemented gradual substitution programs.
The proposal to ban animal-drawn traction in Buenos Aires opens a debate on animal welfare, the modernization of urban recycling, and the labor dignity of workers. The initiative seeks to replace the use of horses with motorized vehicles, eradicate abuse, and ensure safer traffic in cities.
