Horses that pulled wagons loaded with strawberries and cantaloupe were put out to pasture Tuesday after city animal control and humane society officials closed the largest stable that had housed the animals.

Baltimore City Health Department officials, in conjunction with the Humane Society of the United States, confiscated 19 horses owned by a-rabs, the name given to street vendors who sell produce from red wagons that have long swayed along city alleys and roads to the jingle of silver-toned bridle bells.

Tuesday's action was the latest move in a long-standing dispute between city officials and a-rabs over the care of the horses.

Daniel Van Allen, president of the Arabbers Preservation Society, said only two stables remain in Baltimore, one at 1102 S. Carlton St. and the other in the first block of N. Bruce Street, housing a few horses.

"Humane societies don't think that any horse should still be working in cities," said Van Allen, who is also a board member of Arabber Heritage, another local group.

He said that after the city closed a stable on Retreat Street in 2007, the number of working wagons fell to one or two. This summer, he said, the number of wagons had increased to "seven or eight."

He said that with the closing of the stables on Tuesday, he expects that only one or two wagons will remain in Baltimore.