AR-News: City Orders Horse Carriages to Fit 'Poo Bags'

[jim robertson]

City Orders Horse Carriages to Fit 'Poo Bags'

VIENNA (Reuters) - Vienna has ordered its traditional carriage drivers to 
clean up their act and strap "poo bags" to their horses' backsides to 
prevent them from fouling the historic capital's pristine streets.



The carriages, or fiakers, have roamed Vienna for centuries. Today, their 
bowler-hatted drivers take visitors on tours of the city's sights. But the 
smelly mess has proven too much for Vienna's city council, which ordered the 
move Tuesday.


"In summer -- and last summer was particularly hot -- passing cars ground 
the horse droppings on the road into a fine dust which then flew into the 
air and caused an unpleasant odor," said a spokesman for Vienna's social 
democratic party, which backed a bill ordering horses to be fitted with what 
are known locally by the English term "poo bags."


"I am sure that 100 or 150 years ago it stank as well but people in the city 
have come to expect a better quality of life," he said.

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