Mexico has taken an enormous stand for animal welfare after enshrining animal welfare laws into their Constitution. Doing so makes Mexico the tenth country in the world to include welfare laws in their Constitution signaling a sincere commitment to protecting animals from needless cruelty. These laws will ensure;

While a lot of the smaller details are yet to be finalized, this signals a move in the right direction for animal welfare in the country. Among these protections, the enshrinement ensures that students in school will learn about animal welfare, although the extent of that ruling is yet to be determined. This is crucial you guys. Students need to be aware of the horrors that animals endure in order to create the next generation of compassionate individuals. If they're desensitized to cruelty, they will undoubtedly perpetuate, or turn a blind eye to cruelty should they witness it, so this is an important step to preventing future cruelty to animals.

Again, the details of this enshrinement are still in the works, and what they'll essentially cover is still rather grey, but it's still something to celebrate. These commitments will hopefully lead to necessary protections for farm animals which often times endure the worst treatment, living conditions, and abuse prior to their slaughter. It will also hopefully extend to wild animals that are in desperate need of valuable protections like the Vaquita, with fewer than 10 individuals left in the wild. Time is certainly of the essence when it comes to protecting this species and so many more.

With this enshrinement, animal abuse will be penalized properly and addressed like the serious problem that it truly is. If we don't demonstrate that cruelty towards animals is a serious offence, what prevents the next person from committing atrocities towards animals? If there's no fear of repercussions, or simply no worries over embarrassingly weak punishments, there is simply no deterrent to committing cruelty. Laws that ensure proper punishment are necessary in addressing abuse towards animals. 

​Learn more about Mexico's animal welfare stance through the link at the top of this post. It's important that we celebrate these victories to demonstrate a united commitment to animal welfare. 

Another innocent horse has dropped dead on the busy streets of Manhattan, reigniting calls for reform on horse-drawn carriages. Lady, a 15 year old horse, was seen shaking violently as she fell to the ground pulling the carriage down with her. She was pronounced dead almost instantly and appallingly, quickly hustled in to a trailer so as to not cause a scene to onlookers who witnessed the incident. Those who saw it described it as "startling", and now, calls for reform are back at the forefront to prevent further incidents.

Look, this is something I've touched on MANY times in the past with every story that breaks about another innocent horse collapsing and dying in the streets. Gone are the days where horse-drawn carriages are a necessity. Let's be honest here, they're nothing more than novelty rides now, but the situation surrounding these novelty rides is not acceptable. These horses work long hours regardless of the weather and as we sit knee deep in a heat wave, I'm sure Lady felt the pressures of working in such blistering heat surrounded by traffic noise & pollution. Also, let's remember that traffic pollution is most certainly amplified during heat waves and intensely hot days which undoubtedly affected her.

Horse-drawn carriages do NOT belong on busy streets surrounded by excessive traffic and pollution. I've had many an argument with those in defense of carriages and all of them have argued ind efense of how their horses are cared for / treated. What does any of that matter if they're forced to drag around carriages all day in blistering heat? So you treat them well at the stables and then subject them to undeniable cruelty? Good for you.

Lady's story is a painful reminder that we must remove carriages from congested, traffic heavy streets. We're not talking about the peaceful countryside here you guys, we're talking about congested streets full of vehicles pumping out pollution that is amplified by the intense summer heat. We're talking about horses being subjected to forced labour while ingesting noxious traffic fumes for hours. You can argue until you're blue in the face about how the horses are treated when they're NOT working, but how many horses need to drop in the middle of a busy street before we recognize that what we're doing is cruel? What will it take for stubborn carriage drivers to recognize the perils that these horses face? It's abhorrent.

Let us reflect on the needless cruelty we bestow on innocent animals for our own novelty. Let us remember what it feels like to have to walk for any great length of time when there is a heat advisory and you're surrounded by vehicular pollution. If it's hard on us, why would we turn a blind eye to what these horses must be feeling? Lady's death must not be in vain! We have to speak out against horse-drawn carriages on busy streets and retire these beautiful animals from the chains we've forced on to them. Horses have long been partners with humans in our history, and now it's time for us to do the right thing and retire them from the horrendously cruel industry.

Click the link at the top of this post for the original story from World Animal News. They're linked some way that you can make your voice heard in defense of innocent horses. <3