This Thursday at city council’s Committee of the Whole meeting, a motion will be put forward by Victoria city councillor Ben Isitt to develop regulations to phase out commercial operations of horse-drawn carriages by 2023.
Councillor Isitt stated his reasons for bringing forward the motion:
“This proposal responds to long-standing concerns for greater safety on local roads. Specifically, horse-drawn carriages are an out-moded form of transportation in our 21st century city. The proposal to modernize tourist transport is aimed at increasing safety for all road users, including people driving private vehicles and riding bikes, in the context of increasing congestion and conflicts on local roads. The proposal also responds to concerns relating to the humane treatment of animals and avoiding exploitation for animals for commercial purposes wherever possible.”
Since 2016, the Victoria Horse Alliance has documented and raised awareness of the inhuman, unsafe, and unprofessional operation of the horse drawn carriages in Victoria. In May of 2018, the Victoria Horse Alliance released video footage of two carriage horses collapsed at Ogden Point. This video has been viewed nearly half a million times.
Based on the documentation by the Victoria Horse Alliance, the BC SPCA sent Victoria city council recommendations to prohibit the operation of horse carriages on city streets. It has been nearly a year since those recommendations were received by council and forwarded to staff to report on.
Jordan Reichert, founder of the Victoria Horse Alliance, said he is grateful action is finally being taken and is calling on the city to follow through on the BC SPCA recommendations, but reduce the phasing out period to no more than two years.
“The BC SPCA recommendations are already a year old and there have been further incidents with the horse carriages since that time. Four more years of this unsafe, inhumane, and unprofessional industry putting the public and horses’ safety at risk is irresponsible.”
This is the first in several steps that could lead to the phasing out of the horse carriages if the motion passes.
Want to help ban the horse carriages in Victoria? Write to Mayor and Council at councillors@victoria.ca and join our mailing list by emailing us at info@banhorsecarriagesvictoria.org