Road safety horseplay takes to streets to teach capital lessons

Zebra crossings are nothing new, but zebras crossing those crossings certainly are. And that's what's been happening in Moscow on Friday in a bid to improve road safety.

But with the stripy beasts in short supply in the capital, police resorted to painting horses and ponies!

The project – aimed at increasing drivers' attention to the crossings – was criticized by animal-right activists, who claimed the paint may be harmful to skin.

The event-organizers defended the move, saying the paint was water-based and one-hundred per cent safe.

Masha Vorontsova, the director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare in Russia, thinks that “animal cruelty is a problem in Russia”.

“There is no animal welfare legislation in Russia – there is only one article in the Criminal court, which deals with this. It doesn’t cover all the issues over the animal cruelty. People who abuse animals are used to going safe out of any cases,” she told RT.