If carriage drivers are banned from working in Hamilton they may have to put all the horses down and find new jobs.

Carriage driver Dee Charles said that after reading Thursday?s article in and the Letter to the Editor by SPCA chairman Dr. Andrew Madeiros, that the carriages are her livelihood and if the Corporation of Hamilton decides to not allow the carriages in Hamilton any longer then their would be no other option for her put to get rid of the horses and find a new job.

And even if the times of operation in Hamilton were restricted she would loose a lot of business. Most of the older cruise ship passengers want to take rides during the day because they think it is dangerous at night, she said.

Mrs. Charles said that she would not operate elsewhere in Bermuda because 99 percent of her business is from the cruise ships not the hotels.

She added that there is very little entertainment for tourists in Hamilton and if the carriages disappeared then they really would not have much to do.

Some carriage drivers feel that they are getting picked on for unjust reasons and said that Dr. Madeiros has never contacted them or attempted to work with them.

Mrs. Charles said that Government Veterinarian Dr. Jonathan Nesbitt and the Police Service?s Animal Protection Officer, Yvonne Ricca are the only people that have been working with her and her husband Hobby, who own and operate the majority of the carriages in Hamilton.

Mrs. Charles questioned why drivers were not invited to the recent meeting held by the SPCA. And last year Mrs. Charles said she called a meeting to air out any problems anyone had before the upcoming season ? the SPCA were the only group not to show up that were invited, despite Mrs. Charles delivering the invite by hand.

She said she is more than willing to meet with all the groups that have concerns.

Mr. and Mrs. Charles disputed the concerns from Dr. Madeiros and others at the meeting.

They said that last Wednesday a veterinarian visited them at the canopy stand on Front Street and said that the horses looked well and that the heat was not a problem. They added that Dr. Nesbitt said he felt the horses were in good condition.

Concerns have been raised about the condition of the horses and about them being overworked. Mr. Charles said that he and his drivers have day horses and night horses and that they work less than the legal amount of hours they are allowed to work.

The couple said that according to law the horses can be used up to ten hours a day however, none of their horses are used that long because they switch them. With regards to the traffic concern they said that when they hack they take the horses the opposite direction of the traffic and head west towards Fairylands.

Mrs. Charles said: ?I want to know what he (Dr. Madeiros) means by unfit drivers??

Drug test them then, she said. She added that all people holding commercial licenses should be drug tested. In regard to complaints about manure on the roads, Mrs. Charles said: ?Sometimes the horses kick the bags and some falls out ? there is nothing you can do about it.?

She added that there is very little that gets on the roads anyway. ?Tourist love to see these horses here and the only complaints we hear from them are about the horses in St. George?s,? she said. Norman Terceira has hacked in Hamilton for most of his life but no longer does because of a lack of drivers. However, he continues to do weddings and special occasions with his horse and carriages.

He said that the SPCA is not really concerned about the well being of the horses and said that they are a farce, questioning where their inspector is.

Mr. Terceira added that the SPCA are dictating to the carriage drivers. The horses in Hamilton are in good shape, Mr. Terceira said. He added that people are ignorant and will say a horse is lame when they are just pacing.

?More chickens, rabbits, and goats are dying of thirst but the SPCA doesn?t do anything about it,? he said.

In regard to the concern of the carriages holding up traffic Mr. Terceira said that there is too much traffic on the roads anyway. And said that it is cooler on the streets of Hamilton than it is in the tin sheds that a lot of the carriage horses live in.