LITTLE ROCK — The Pulaski County Quorum Court voted unanimously Tuesday night to ban livestock and exotic animals from crossing pedestrian bridges.
Thirteen of the 15 members were present, with Doug Reed and Mary Louise Williams absent.
The ordinance is the result of complaints heard this spring about horses crossing the Big Dam Bridge in west Little Rock.
“I don’t like having ordinances for the sake of having ordinances, but it’s important to have them when they are essential for the safety for the people,” said Justice of the Peace Patricia Dicker.
About 50 people attended the meeting, several of whom were cyclists supporting the proposed legislation.
Five people spoke during the debate, four of whom were in favor of the ordinance.
The cyclists pointed out the dangers that horses on the bridge might pose to people on bikes and on foot.
“Horses are wonderful animals,” said Tom Ezell, president of Bicycle Advocacy of Central Arkansas. “But they are absolutely convinced, all the way down to their horsey little hooves, that bicycles are horse-eating machines.”
Several people argued that horses are skittish and could be easily frightened, which posed a potential threat to the rider as well as people around them.
One big problem, according to those supporting the ordinance, is the manure left by horses crossing a bridge. Ezell said the river trails, of which the Big Dam Bridge is a part, are a state treasure and an attraction for visitors.
“They don’t want to see a massive amount of manure that horses leave behind,” he said. “Poop is poop, and you don’t want it on your trail system.”
Suzanne Dew, a veterinarian who has a farm in Johnson County as well as an apartment in Little Rock, addressed the Quorum Court on behalf of the board members of the Big Dam Bridge Foundation.
Dew said she went running one Sunday in April across the Big Dam Bridge and encountered four horses, two abreast being ridden across the bridge. She said the riders were oblivious to the other pedestrians on the bridge and that she had very little room to pass the horses.
“It was frightening, and I was angry because it endangers others and themselves,” Dew said of the riders on horseback.
But Robert Longhofer, a White County resident who said he spends a lot of time in Pulaski County, disagreed.
“Most horse riders would not be associated with the behavior of riders on that bridge,” Longhofer told the officials.
He said he thinks there are more injuries on the bridge from bicycles and dogs than from horses, and said there haven’t been any injuries from horses crossing the bridge.He also said that people don’t ride horses across the bridge on a daily basis.
“It’s not a common occurrence enough for there to be a law,” he said.
Longhofer was questioned at length by Dicker, who asked if he would take a large horse on the bridge. He said that he would, but only because his horses are well-trained.
“There’s a lot of horses that don’t belong on that bridge,” he said. “There are probably a lot of dogs and people that shouldn’t be on that bridge either.”
Longhofer also said he believes bicyclists, despite their claims, are anti-equestrian.
“It’s obviously a very directed vendetta by bicyclists against horses,” he said. He also said Dew’s viewpoint as a veterinarian is “totally irresponsible.”
“As far as I know, she’s a small animal veterinarian,” he said.
Another opponent of the ordinance, Linda McGrath, later said that she hoped the Quorum Court would have allowed horses to be walked across the bridge.
“I’d like to see people walk their bikes across the bridge,” she said.
“This is not anti-horse legislation,” Justice of the Peace Phil Stowers said. “This is common sense legislation.”
There are other problems on pedestrian bridges, Stowers said, such as bikers riding too fast and people who don’t pick up after their dogs.
“This might not be the end of legislation we have to pass to ensure everyone is safe,” he said.
The ordinance has an emergency clause and will go into effect as soon as the county judge signs it.
Arkansas, Pages 7 on 06/23/2010