THE Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has received endless calls from concerned Bermudians and tourists alike over the health of the island's hacking horses, especially in Hamilton, where construction, noise, and air pollution are factors the horses have to contend with daily.

The SPCA is in the midst of ongoing talks with both the Corporations of Hamilton and St. George's concerning the welfare of the buggy horses but the matter is not as easy for the charity to deal with as some people might think.

SPCA shelter chairman Dr. Andrew Madeiros told the Mid-Ocean News yesterdaythat, in order to take proactive action, the SPCA would have to charge someone with actual animal cruelty.

However, under the law the term "animal cruelty" is not open to many interpretations.

The current conditions that hacking horses face are not specifically brutal or harsh enough to warrant a charge of animal cruelty, but the fact remains that the environment of Hamilton may well take its toll on the buggy horses, which carry a weight of more than five people a day at certain times.

With the careless drivers, the overwhelming noise, and the potential for some of the horses to become nervous under the tense conditions, Dr. Madeiros is concerned about the real possibility of a "serious accident" occurring in Hamilton in the near future.

Although its relationship with the Corporation of Hamilton is on difficult terms, the SPCA is grateful that a sun shelter for the horses has finally been established on Front Street.

However, the SPCA's relationship with the Corporation of St. George's has become a conflict of its own.

The Corporation of St. George's has flatly refused to "play ball", frequently referencing its World Heritage Site status to dismiss the SPCA's requests for a sun shelter while continuing to put the hacking horses of the area through an intense ordeal on a daily basis.

At the moment, the SPCA is still actively attempting to convince the Corporation of Hamilton that the issue is not quite as a low priority as it might think.

If tourists as well as residents are beginning to become concerned for the horses during summer's hottest period, Dr. Madeiros says, then the Corporation "should recognise that the issue must be attended to very soon".

"Currently, we seem to have reached an impasse in our dealings with both Corporations on trying to secure improved working conditions for the horses," said an SPCA spokesman. "The hacking horse owners and operators refuse to co-operate with us and despite the continuing public concern about this issue, members of the Senate and the House of Assembly have remained strangely silent on the matter.

"Many people believe that hacking horses should be banned entirely from the streets of Hamilton because of the amount of heavy traffic and out of concern for the animals themselves while others feel that their operating hours should be restricted to the evenings.

"The SPCA believes that the current working conditions of many of the horses working in Hamilton and St. George's is unacceptable.

"However, we would also be the first to admit that there is a wide margin in the manner in which some owners or operators choose to treat their animals.

"It is our steadfast objective to bring about substantially improved working conditions for all the hacking horses and, yes, we do firmly believe that they should not be operating during the summer months in the heat of the day, especially in Hamilton."