Target: Lisa Helps, Mayor of Victoria, British Columbia
Goal: Protect horses from injury and death for human entertainment.
Countless horses all over the world are forced to pull oversized loads, such as carriages. Carriage horses labor all day in all weather extremes, dodge traffic, and are exposed to loud noises and disorder. Despite all this, carriage rides in Victoria are still offered as a tourist attraction. The horses are injured frequently and even killed while being forced to drag people around for their entertainment.
Many of the horses used for carriage rides are abused, overworked, and severely emaciated. Some work non-stop for seven days a week, receiving improper medical care and insufficient nourishment. Often the horses in these industries are also not housed or cared for well when they are off duty. They suffer greatly from walking on scorching hot or freezing cold asphalt all day long. Additionally, frequent walking on hard surfaces causes severe leg problems, and the horses may develop respiratory disorders because they breathe in exhaust from cars. Furthermore, horses are simply not meant to be in, loud, hectic, and polluted cities. There are numerous stories about horsing collapsing during carriage rides because they are pushed past their limits by their heartless owners who exploit them for profit. People who are compassionate about horses do not force them to pull heavy loads.
Horses have pulled carriages for centuries but the context has drastically changed and now this industry has become abusive and harmful to animals. Rome has recently joined several cities worldwide that have banned horse-drawn carriage rides to bring this cruel industry to an end. Make Victoria do the same. Sign this petition to ban horse carriage rides in Victoria.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Mayor Helps,
It is shameful that you withdrew the horse-drawn carriage ban debate, and discard any discussions of a phase-out. Hundreds of horses are forced to pull carriages as a tourist attraction in your city. They labor all day in all weather extremes and are exposed to toxic fumes, loud noises, and stress. Many horses are injured and even killed while being forced to drag people around for their entertainment.
Walking on scorching hot or freezing cold asphalt harms the horses severely. Additionally, walking on hard surfaces every day causes leg problems which are often incurable. Most of the horses who are forced to pull carriages suffer greatly through the course of their lives.
Do you believe that the financial situation in Victoria is worth more than the welfare of animals? Countless cities around the world realized how cruel the carriage ride industry is, and already banished this abusive practice. Show compassion towards animals. To help them, ban carriage rides in the City of Victoria.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Can Pac Swire
We would never use this no matter where we are … always feel so sorry for the horses.
Whenever animals are used for entertainment they are abused. Many years ago I came across a powerful quote by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr -“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
For all those people out there who care about those suffering horses surely you can muster up more anger then “isn’t it awful”