Safety fears over use of draft horses to pull wedding carriages at Hong Kong's Discovery Bay
Four of the giant animals are in Discovery Bay, apparently being groomed to pull wedding carriages, but vets have sounded a warning
Goliath's Revenge, Tank, Epic Thunder and Gracie's Eclipse cause quite a stir on their daily walks around Discovery Bay's North Plaza area. Each stands two metres high and weighs about 500kg.
But not everyone is delighted to see the four giants on their sleepy patch and some local residents fear that there may be accidents.
There are rumours that the two pairs of draft horses - matching brown Percheron mares and blond Belgian geldings - will be used to pull wedding carriages from Hong Kong Resorts' (HKR) new White Chapel seaside wedding venue to the new Auberge Discovery Bay hotel, which opens on December 12.
Local vets and animal welfare groups are concerned about the suitability of the living environment and public safety.
Jill Robinson, founder and chief executive of Animals Asia Foundation, said: "Search the internet and you will see examples of wedding-day horse-drawn carriage rides that have gone horribly wrong."
Last month in New York's Central Park a horse broke free from its carriage and bolted down Ninth Street, crashing into cars until it was corralled.
In April a spooked horse pulling newlyweds and their four-year-old daughter in Wakefield, England, raced off, dumping them on a busy bypass.