Should horses be allowed on the road?

[davidtq]

Because horse manure does not pose a significant threat to public health - dog mess does.

How significant a threat does dog mess represent? I remember when do mess first became an issue 20 years or so ago there was one publicised case I remember of a lad who lost his eyesight due to worms. As far as I know horses are as liable to parasites as dogs.

I think what we have here are horse riders who would disagree with takeaway wrappers being dropped at random but seem to think its perfectly acceptible to drop horse crap on the road.

Then we have a few people like me. I see no good arguement for their behaviour as far as Im concernced sh!t covered streets should be a thing of the past. I havent seen a single post here that has convinced me in anyway that it should be socially acceptible to drop crap all over roads but not to throw other forms of litter around.

To my mind its purely selfish cant be bothered to do anything about it, as long as Ive had my pleasure.

No big deal, we all have our vices

As a side note though I disagree just as strongly with red light jumping cyclists who "hurt no one" pavement riders who "pose little danger to the public" etc etc. I also disagree with cyclists knocking off wing mirrors even though I can understand the temptation at times.

But I am quite happy to pay out for a computer with far higher than necesary power consumption in order to experience the best of technology... Im happy to run 1000-2000watt lighting for painting and photography depending on what im doing. My own hobbies have detrimental affects as well

 

[davidtq]

I agree that dog poo is unacceptable and totally agree that owners should be fined if they do not clear it up but I still think horse riders should have more of a duty to clear up as well.

Id agree completely

 

[davidtq]

Horse faeces does not contain a significant level of parasites or other organisms likely to be injurous to human health. In part this is because they are herbivores.

Dogs on the other hand are carnivores, and their faeces do contain significant numbers of organisms that are injurous to human health.

Thats simply not true ascarid worms which were the nasties that affected kids eyes are present in horses as well. I think what we are hearing here is want to believe and make believe I'd prefer some more science rather than I say it so its so...

http://www.infohorse.com/worms.asp

http://www.extension.umn.edu/yardandgarden/ygbriefs/h238manure-dog-cat.html

looks like the same parasites acting in the same way to me.

Thats not to say I have ANY scientific knowledge on droppings contents canine or horse, but if you're making a claim that dog faeces are dangerous and horse ones arent perhaps YOU could explain exactly what parasites that dogs have that are dangerous that horses dont also have.

 

[Arch]

Yes, only some animal diseases are easily transferable to humans - we call them zoonoses. Even if animals suffer from a similar germ or parasite (broadly for example 'worms'), it may well be specific to species. It's the reason you can eat lamb or beef rare, but must cook pork thoroughly - because pigs carry more diseases transmissible to humans - probably because they are, like us, omnivores, and therefore have similarities of digestive tract etc. Which is probably one reason why pork is a taboo meat to Judaism and Islam - in a hot climate, it's less likely to keep safely.

 

[Maz]

Yes, only some animal diseases are easily transferable to humans - we call them zoonoses. Even if animals suffer from a similar germ or parasite (broadly for example 'worms'), it may well be specific to species. It's the reason you can eat lamb or beef rare, but must cook pork thoroughly - because pigs carry more diseases transmissible to humans - probably because they are, like us, omnivores, and therefore have similarities of digestive tract etc. Which is probably one reason why pork is a taboo meat to Judaism and Islam - in a hot climate, it's less likely to keep safely.

Being muslim, I think you're right about the climate thing and prohibition of pork for muslims and jews.
I'm not quite sure about this - never really looked into it - but it's also got to do with some funky deal going down with the physiology of pigs and humans being very similar (organ transplants from pigs to humans etc). Though, how they would know that back in Biblical times, god only knows.

 

[Arch]

Being muslim, I think you're right about the climate thing and prohibition of pork for muslims and jews.
I'm not quite sure about this - never really looked into it - but it's also got to do with some funky deal going down with the physiology of pigs and humans being very similar (organ transplants from pigs to humans etc). Though, how they would know that back in Biblical times, god only knows.

Yes, that does come into it as well - if you think about it, it doesn't take too much modern scientific knowledge to see that the digestive system of a cow is more different to a human than that of a pig, just good observation - and I'm sure human anatomy was fairly well known just from seeing people sliced open in battles and stuff. Ancient people may not have understood the chemical processes and the microscopic detail, but basic anatomy is a case of good observation.

There are other very sensible reasons for a taboo on pork - pigs will happily eat excrement of any sort and root about in rubbish heaps so there's a much higher chance of human parasites being re-ingested.

Finally, there's a purely practical aspect - pigs can be sensitive to sunburn, and like to have mud to wallow in. And their feet aren't as tough as those of bovids, so they perhaps aren't so well suited to a nomadic life of the sort desert pastoralists often have. It all goes to show, there are very good reasons indeed for a lot of the rules we may now see as arcane.

 

[Maz]

Can you imagine Moses just having received the 10 commandments and then hears a voice:
"Oh, and, Moses, one more thing before you go..."
-Yes?
"Don't eat pork."
-What?!
"Don't eat pork. Bad meat. Dirty. Don't eat it."


Sorry if I offended anyone with that. I think it's funny.

 

[Arch]

Can you imagine Moses just having received the 10 commandments and then hears a voice:
"Oh, and, Moses, one more thing before you go..."
-Yes?
"Don't eat pork."
-What?!
"Don't eat pork. Bad meat. Dirty. Don't eat it."


Sorry if I offended anyone with that. I think it's funny.

I'm thinking of Moses stomping off back down the mountain in a huff, chuntering to himself "Bloody typical, I get a nice pack of pork chops in for supper...."

I'm amused at some of the ways the medieval Christian church got round dietary restrictions, like the idea that you shouldn't eat meat, only fish, on a Friday, or in Lent. Apparently, the medieval bishops simply reclassifed a lot of animals as fish - seals, otters etc, because they 'lived in water'. And even animal foeteses - because they came from a watery environment.. Talk about stretching it a bit. And I believe the Barnacle Goose is so named because, being migratory, people believed that when it disappeared for a season, it had in fact turned into a barnacle (there is a reason why a barnacle, I can't remember it). And hey, that meant it was really a fish!

 

[Maz]

Nice one, Arch. In that case ducks are fish, too. Weeeeeel, they might as well be, the amount of time they spend in water.
Peking duck is already fish!

 

[Arch]

Nice one, Arch. In that case ducks are fish, too. Weeeeeel, they might as well be, the amount of time they spend in water.
Peking duck is already fish!

Um. Do you mean Bombay duck?

 

[Maz]

Um. Do you mean Bombay duck?

Aye! That's the fella. My mistake.

 

[Arch]

Aye! That's the fella. My mistake.

I suppose now, it's Mumbai duck...

Dammit, the thought of Peking duck has set off my chinese takeaway craving.

 

[gambatte]

Can you imagine Moses just having received the 10 commandments and then hears a voice:
"Oh, and, Moses, one more thing before you go..."
-Yes?
"Don't eat pork."
-What?!
"Don't eat pork. Bad meat. Dirty. Don't eat it."


Sorry if I offended anyone with that. I think it's funny.

Why is my mental image of Moses very similar to Homer Simpson?

D'oh!

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Um. Do you mean Bombay duck?

Why can't you get Bombay Duck any more? They used to sell it years ago in a curry house I used to frequent, but since they stopped selling it I can't find it anywhere. It's delicious.