Why do production site workers need walkload animation for directions other than SE?

Currently every worker sprite in the game who has a potential to handle a ware(s) has walking with a load, "walkload", animations rendered for each of the six walking directions in the game engine, i.e. E, SE, SW, W, NW, and NE.

Naturally the carrier workers need walkload animation for all directions. Gathering workers like the farmers, fishers, forester and hunters who range away from their production sites would need walkload animation in all directions, as well.

However, for workers tied to a production site like a mine, smithy, weaving mill, etc., the only direction in which they would carry a ware is currently SE, the direction in which all buildings and building approaches in the game are oriented. This would imply that there are currently a great number of walkload animation files that would never be displayed.

That begs the questions,
 1) "Does the current code require animation for all directions for all bobs and sprites?" and
 2) "If they are not ever used, why fatten the distributions with files that will never be displayed?"
 3) "Can these unused graphics files be eliminated?"