A Twitter user reported on 28 June that there was another account of a horse collapsing after pulling a cart with tourists to a famous Polish tourist destination. It then had to be taken off the route by car. In Poland, such animal abuse is allowed in both the Tatra National Park and the city of Krakow.

The photo illustrating the tweet is not from the incident described. This one could have looked even more drastic.

"(…) the incident happened near Palenica Białczańska. One of them [ed. horses] fell over. It cannot be assumed that it stumbled. According to witnesses (who were coming down the mountain), the horse lay on the asphalt for several minutes and could not get up on its own. His tongue was blue and his eyes were rolled over so that the very whites were visible. After a while, the horse got up and was taken by car to the stables, where it was to be examined by a veterinarian," explained a Twitter user @as_arek.

"Unfortunately, as of yet we don’t know the results of the examination" - he adds.

The photo used in the tweet comes from a campaign by the Viva! Foundation, which has been fighting to stop horse abuse since 2014. Anna Płaszczyk, who deals with the issue at the foundation, told oko.press in April 2023: "It's been 10 years and not much has changed. I have huge remorse and resentment towards myself, because many animals have lost their lives during this time," Płaszczyk said.

The people that Viva! Foundation is trying to hold accountable are the manager of the Tatra National Park, the head of the Tatra district governor and the head of the cabdriver association. They are the ones who do not want to put an end to an unnecessary but profitable procedure.

Why are people (i.e. those who don't want to use their legs to walk the easy route to Morskie Oko) being driven by horse-drawn carts and not, for example, an electric car? As reported by oko.press, the cabdrivers do not like the fact that an electric car can only take eight people, while a cart can take up to twelve. They don't seem to care that the travel would take half the time with an electric vehicle.

According to the Viva! Foundation, the limit of 12 people being driven uphill and 14 downhill is a serious overload on the horses. Moreover, the fact that the limit is higher on the route down from Morskie Oko than up to the lake is not justified. By braking the cart which pushes against them from above, the horses are de facto under even more strain going downhill.

Even without taking the overload into account, the horses work all year round, in cold and heat, irreversibly damaging their joints on the tarmac. Then they go to the slaughterhouse at around eight years of age while the average life expectancy of non-slaughtered horses is around 25-30 years. Around 250-350 animals work on the route to Morskie Oko lake every year.

The word "barbarity" is often used to describe this practice. It is possible that this term no longer carries the emotional charge of genuine objection these days. A more accurate way of describing the attitude of those who still use these carts is "sadism and thoughtlessness".