CALÈCHES’ DAY IS DONE
Montreal’s decision to ban calèches starting in 2020 is long overdue. The horse-drawn carriages that chauffeur tourists around Old Montreal raise animal welfare concerns as well as being anachronisms — and not in a good way.
Mayor Valérie Plante’s administration has acted sensibly and generously in giving calèche owners and drivers ample notice. A one-year moratorium imposed suddenly in the spring of 2016 by her predecessor Denis Coderre, after a collision between a horse and a car made headlines, was short-lived.
Coderre quickly retreated after calèche owners challenged the moratorium in court and won a temporary injunction. This time around, however, no one will be able to argue that the city is acting too hastily. Owners of the two dozen or so calèches in operation and the about twice as many drivers have fair notice that they will have to adjust and find other sources of income. The long lead time also helps ensure that suitable new homes can be found for the horses, something the SPCA has promised to facilitate. In the past, those who have argued in favour of calèches have intimated that horses no longer needed would end up at the slaughterhouse.
While it’s true improvements to regulations and practices have been made in recent years — for example, new rules were brought in last summer concerning maximum daily hours for horses and prohibiting the operation of the carriages on days where the temperatures are above 28 degrees C — concerns remain about the animals’ working conditions, which include breathing exhaust fumes all day long. Also, even days that are cooler than 28 degrees can be rather hot and humid, and hardly pleasant for prolonged outdoor work.
Most of all, though, there is simply no need for this industry to continue. Some might argue that the carriages are a charming part of Montreal’s history, and a tourist draw. But is animal cruelty the branding Montreal’s tourist industry wants? These days, Montreal justly markets itself as a culturally lively, hip, happening metropolis — rooted, to be sure, in its history. Of course Old Montreal is a must-see for tourists, but it can be equally enjoyed on foot, by Bixi or from a seat at a terrasse in a stonewalled courtyard, as from a calèche caught in traffic.
As civilization has advanced, so too has human sympathy for animal welfare. There was a time when Montrealers depended on the labour of animals for transportation, but that day has passed. Calèches have their place in history. Now, that’s where they should remain.