Horse carriage protest stays peaceful
The two sides may never come to consensus, but at least on Saturday things remained calm as At War for Animals Niagara held a day of protest against the use of horse carriages in Niagara-onthe-Lake.
“This is definitely the biggest one our group has ever hosted,” said Adam Stirr, co-founder of AWFAN. Roughly 70 protesters showed up, some local Niagarans and others from across the province. Stirr said there were other similar days of action in cities across the globe.
“The police are here, they have been excellent in keeping the two sides apart.”
AWFAN opposes what it calls speciesism, which it believes to be no different than racism or sexism and is the assignment of different values, rights or special consideration to individuals solely based on their species. Its protest is against the horsedrawn carriages run by Sentineal Carriages, which can often be seen taking visitors on an oldfashioned tour of the Old Town.
But on Saturday the horses took a break during the protest at the request of police and town officials, who feared public safety issues if the horses were working during the protest.
Laura Sentineal said she was happy to comply with the police and town request.
“We’re all about safety first,” she said, adding the business asked its supporters to stay at home Saturday to prevent any potential escalation of the protest. Still, many showed up to show their support for Sentineal Carriages wearing stickers.
With music from Niagara Jazz Festival in the background, protesters handed out pamphlets and sang their own protest songs, while Sentineal Carriages supporters talked to passersby.
Stirr said he didn’t consider the removal of the horses for Saturday afternoon to be any kind of victory.
“Our goal isn’t to have the horses removed for public safety reasons, our goal would be to have the use of these horses as property ended and to bring in a different type of carriage into the Old Town,” he said. “One that doesn’t include the use of animals as property.”
At the heart of the debate is a difference of opinion on humans’ role in the lives of animals. Sentineal called it a “working partnership” and said it treats its 20 horses with the best care and respect it can.
“I think, like it or not, through evolution we are at the top of the food chain and, therefore, we are responsible for taking care of animals, and ensuring their health and well-being,” she said.
She said working horses built North America and have been side by side with humans for centuries.
“With working horses, it sounds crazy, but they love to work. They love their jobs.”
But while Stirr admitted there was a time when humans had to use animals such as horses, he said that time has passed.
“We completely acknowledge all domestic animals … all of these animals are human creations and the care of these animals is our responsibility,” he said. “There are other options in this day and age.”
Stirr said he doesn’t want to see Sentineal Carriages go out of business but wants it to adapt to the times and posited using electric carriages in place of the horse-drawn rides. The protests, he said, are the first step to getting society to acknowledge there’s a problem, and then people must come together to figure out a way to ensure animals won’t be used as property.
For Sentineal, her horses aren’t property.
“We’re one big family. We all work together,” she said.