Hamilton carriage operators claim the Chairman of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) has a vendetta against them.

Owners of Shilo Ranch, Hobby and Dee Charles said SPCA chairman Dr. Andrew Madeiros wants to get back at them because they tried to take the SPCA to court two years ago for allegedly keeping several horses in poor stable conditions for four months.

However, the charges never made it to court, they said.

Earlier this week Dr. Madieros said that an accident involving horses and buggies was inevitable because the animals were being poorly treated.

?I tried to take them to court, Mrs. Charles said. ?Government tried to take the SPCA to court twice and put it to the DPP, but the DPP would not take it to court. He is after us because Charles Whitehead, his assistant, got the sack over the horses in their paddock,? she alleged. ?But I told him straight out, it should not have been Whitehead that got the sack but SPCA President Kromer and Dr. Madieros that got the sack,? she said. ?Now he is trying to get people to lobby against us. We are getting tired of it.?

Mr. Charles said horses just don?t drop down dead, unless they have something else wrong with them.

?He wants us because we have a video of how they kept their animals and won?t let it go,? Mr. Charles said. ?The horses mind the traffic better than the traffic minds them. They stop at the lights without having to pull them. The horses wait for the lights and many people do not.?

Shilo Ranch is the only carriage operator in the City and do not operate in St. George?s.

?It?s pathetic they do not have a shelter down there in St. George?s,? Mrs. Charles said.

Mr. and Mrs. Charles felt Dr. Madieros was aiming his comments at them because they are the sole operators of carriages in Hamilton.

As for working horses in the heat of summer, Mr. Charles said, horses are bred for ploughing fields all day with no shade. He said his horses park next to the Harbour for breeze and are under a shade with plenty of water.

But the personal lobbying of the SPCA against Shilo has got passing motorists hurling abuse about the horses sweating and foaming at the mouth. foam.

But he said its natural for horses to foam at the mouth when they are biting on a bit and no one levels accusations at him when he sweats a lot in the summer.

Mr. Charles said people believe what Dr. Madeiros say because he is a vet, ?but it?s just not true.?

Mrs. Charles said carriages horses are bred to pull ten times their own weight.

?They are bred to pull carriages,? she said. ?They are bred to work.?

She said Shilo horses work three nights and three days a week when the cruise ships are in. And she said they switch horses for the day and night shift.

?Our horses are healthy,? she said. ?These days it is a walk in the park.?

And even a foreign animal activist she met at Harbour Nights complimented her on the healthy appearance of her horses, she said.

?He said he had never seen horses with coats that look so fabulous,? she said. ?He said he could see we really took care of our horses. Tourists love it.?

Many people have complimented them on the conditions of his horse and carriages, she said.

And she has travelled to major cities including New York, Houston and Nassau where conditions were not as good as Bermuda.

?There is no where near the pollution or traffic in other countries,? she said. ?I have been on rides everywhere in the States. This is not about carriages in Hamilton, it is not about the heat. This is about nothing except for me and my husband,? she said. ?There are accidents at Vesey Street every week. But he wants Hamilton. This is a personal grudge. Government knows about it. Dr. Madieros knows about it but he won?t say anything.?