Carriage rides not so charming for the horses

Calèches for tourists are exploitative, Jessica Scott-Reid says.

How fortunate for Montrealers, and for those visiting the city, to have had such lovely weather over the Victoria Day long weekend. It was a wonderful occasion to see the city, especially our own historical and architectural gem, the Old Port.

Less fortunate however, were the carriage horses, a ubiquitous part of the Old Port experience, but whom I witnessed from my shaded, albeit still scorching seat on a nearby terrasse, sweltering in the blazing 27-degree sun, and being worked among the hordes of cars and people.

Such a sight is nothing new in Montreal. Mayor Denis Coderre took a ride this past winter to celebrate 350 years of horse-drawn carriages in Montreal.

But while our city’s history might have been built in part on the backs of carriage horses then, they only serve one, no-longer-valid purpose now — to make money.

There are bylaws in place that attempt to protect carriage horses, including prohibiting them from working in above-30 degree weather, however, as the Montreal SPCA says on its website, only the city of Montreal and the Montreal police have the ability to enforce these laws. And from my seat on that holiday Monday, it appeared no one cared. But then again, it was only 27 degrees, and hot tourists were in desperate need of a ride.

Apart from weather concerns, there are also issues of carriage horses being forced to work on busy roadways among cars and crowds, and for extensive, exhausting spans of time (the bylaw in the Montreal states horses are only required to rest for six hours a day).

Just in the past year, the City of New York, a similarly popular destination for horse carriage rides, has seen the death of at least seven carriage horses, along with multiple other incidences resulting in injured horses, due mainly to working among traffic.

And although New York City’s Mayor Bill de Blasio promised a law to ban horse carriages, it seems such a change is to take place just as quickly as the implementation of the Quebec Agricultural Minister’s promise to redefine animals as sentient creatures rather than property (and potentially altering the way working animals are treated). And so the horses wait, and work.

It is obvious though, that when it comes to the welfare of animals, a cultural shift is taking place in Quebec, with more people and politicians taking the plight of animals seriously. Yet, the city of Montreal continues to allow the archaic exploitation of carriage horses.

For me, one among the growing number of animal advocates, the sight of carriage horses has long lost its charm and now only puts a blight on what would otherwise be a lovely outing.

And while horse carriages might continue to draw naive tourists on hot and busy days, they will only deter my family and I from frequenting the Old Port on such occasions.

Until city or provincial leaders make a move to ban the use of carriage horses in the Old Port, those like me who simply cannot sit by and sip sangria while watching animals be so blatantly exploited, the Montreal SPCA suggests, “If you see something regarding one of the horses that is of concern to you or you see the horses out working in higher than 30 degree C weather, please file a complaint by: Contacting 311 or the SPVM at (514) 280-0120, Local 20, and emailing the virtual Accès Montréal office of the Ville-Marie borough at: ville-marie@ville.montreal.qc.ca.

Apart from weather concerns, there are also issues of carriage horses being forced to work on busy roadways among cars and crowds.