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Ronnie Polaneczky: It's historic, but whose is it?

YOU CAN lead a horse to water at 3rd and Bainbridge streets, but you can no longer let him drink there, thanks to a truck that smashed an historic horse trough.

Animal-lovers with the fountain, on the day of its dedication in 1910.
Animal-lovers with the fountain, on the day of its dedication in 1910.Read moreThe Women's Humane Society

YOU CAN lead a horse to water at 3rd and Bainbridge streets, but you can no longer let him drink there, thanks to a truck that smashed an historic horse trough.

I know what you're thinking: Who knew that Philly still had horse troughs, let alone this elegant, cement one in Queen Village that features a working fountain?

Built in 1910, it's a large, square, concrete basin, topped by an urn inscribed with the lovely invitation, "Drink, gentle friends." Erected by the Women's Pennsylvania SPCA in memory of one Annie L. Lowry, it provided life-saving hydration to the workhorses that once crowded our streets the way cars now do.

While only a few horses still take refreshment at the trough - mostly the stallions and mares that pull carriages through the city's historic area - it's much-used by dogs, whose owners appreciate that their pets can slurp there after a run.

That changed on June 26, when a truck knocked the trough off its base, breaking the pipes that usually pump fresh water into the basin. The driver stopped and police took a report, but the fountain has remained broken, dry and askew.

"We're worried that it might fall over and crack," says Queen Village resident Alma Nazario, who witnessed the accident. "That would be terrible. It's such a wonderful piece of history to have in the neighborhood."

Dave Hammond, executive director of the South Street Headhouse District, frets that antiquarian thieves might make off with the trough's urn.

"I'm afraid it'll end up in some garden in Radnor," he says.

The thing is, no one seems to know who owns the trough or whose job it is to fix it.

You'd think that the responsibility might be the Fairmount Park Commission's, given how generously the park has helped those who tend Bainbridge Green - the skinny garden that runs down the center of Bainbridge from 5th to 3rd streets, which the trough anchors.

But, says the commission's Mark Focht, "It's not ours."

He thought its upkeep was under jurisdiction of the Streets Department. Except that Streets spokeswoman Keisha McCarty-Skelton, after phoning umpteen offices in City Hall, says that the trough isn't her department's baby, either.

"We think it's Rec's," she said.

But the Recreation Department's Alain Joinville didn't have an answer yesterday, either.

All of this might sound like buck-passing, but it's really just puzzlement.

I mean, how many years has it been since we needed to water our mares on a routine basis?

"We're committed to seeing that the trough gets repaired as quickly as possible," said Brian Abernathy, chief of staff for City Councilman Frank DiCicco, in whose district the trough is situated. "We just need to find out exactly who's in charge of it."

The sooner the better. Because the trough, I learned, has a noble Philadelphia pedigree.

A century ago, animal-protection advocates pushed hard for placement of troughs all over the city, where our work animals were treated so badly they'd collapse in the street from over-work and dehydration.

"There was a big, philanthropic trend in Philadelphia to install troughs and fountains for horses and dogs," says Sue Leary, president of the American Anti-Vivisection Society, whose recent 125th-anniversary publication features great photos from the dedication ceremony of the Bainbridge Street trough.

"The troughs literally saved animals' lives."

Philadelphia's animal-protection reputation was further strengthened when the city became home to the country's first animal shelter and first anti-vivisection organization.

So the Bainbridge Street trough, which kept healthy the horses that pulled trolleys along the streets of Queen Village, is much more than a quirky relic of urban history.

It's a symbol of the city's leadership in the national movement for the humane regard of our animals.

We should be promoting that proud legacy, not letting one of its best symbols disintegrate for lack of knowing whose privilege it is to safeguard it.

Leary, who was distressed to learn of the trough's damage, was eager to assist in its repair.

"We would absolutely step up," she said excitedly. "And I'm sure that the other historical animal-protection organizations in the area would want to be involved, too. We'd want to ensure that this fountain continues its work. It carries an important message to people today."

If only we knew to whom Leary and her colleagues should make their generous offer. *

E-mail polaner@phillynews.com or call 215-854-2217. For recent columns:

http://go.philly.com/polaneczky