In the News: Poop dispute — parade fee creates rift between horse owners, officials

That’s the headline from a news story in the Billings Gazette after Casper, Wyo., officials decided to charge $5 per horse for parade cleanup. 

Horse owners are outraged about the fee, saying they’re being targeted at an event where people throw a variety of trash on the ground without being penalized.

From the story:

CASPER, Wyo. — Horse groups are raising a stink over the city of Casper’s decision to start charging a fee for equine entries beginning with Tuesday’s Central Wyoming Fair and Rodeo Parade.

City officials say the $5-per-horse entry fee for manure cleanup ensures the city’s street sweepers will be free of doo-doo and the North Platte River clear of the pathogen-heavy waste.

Tom Phillips is the parade chairman for the Casper Lions Club, the group that runs Parade Day. He said horse owners are the only group charged for entry.

The dispute has been going on for years, Phillips said.

Horse owners say they are being singled out to pay for cleanup efforts at an event where litter is ubiquitous.

The Wyoming Arabian Horse Association usually enters six or eight horses for the event. This year the club won’t enter any. Members of the group aren’t upset at the $5 fee, said Cleo Waters, secretary of the association. It’s the principle, she said.

“Nobody else is being charged a cleanup fee,” she said. “It doesn’t seem fair, because people throw candy wrappers, fliers and pop cups everywhere.”

Morris Carter, a volunteer with the Historic Trails Interpretive Center, said the fee is “ridiculous.”

What do you think, HN? Should horse owners have to pay for manure disposal at parades? Weigh in!