Two dozen horses in Montreal face uncertain futures after the city put a one-year moratorium on horse-drawn carriages, reining in a popular tourist activity in the cobblestone streets of Old Montreal.
Operators of the iconic carriages, also known as caleches, say the ban destroys their livelihoods and makes it difficult to afford food and lodgings for their animals. Some operators even fear they’ll have no choice but to put their horses down. The Montreal SPCA has said it will work to ensure that does not happen.
Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre made the announcement Wednesday after ongoing pressure from animal rights activists, who have decried the caleches as inhumane. Coderre said he’s unhappy with the way the carriages are managed and said he hopes to use the following year to craft new guidelines to reboot the industry.
"The best option is to restart from zero and give ourselves all the necessary tools to ensure this is a source of pride and not a source of irritation," Coderre said.
“There’s two priorities,” he later told CTV Montreal. “To make sure that there is safety: safety for the people, safety for the horses.”
The mayor added that he’ll refund the $550 municipal permits to the carriage drivers.
To Moise Cohen, who claims to have paid $71,000 for a second-hand permit and spends $16,000 a year on his horse’s upkeep, that’s not nearly enough.
“I’ve invested a lot of money in this business,” Cohen told CTV Montreal. “And now I’m out of a job.”
Another caleche operator said that he had no money to send his horse to the country and would likely have to go on welfare.
“Some will end up in the butcher shop,” was his grim prognosis.
An estimated 24 horses will be affected by the upcoming ban, which takes effect next Tuesday.
Coderre’s decision comes after several high-profile incidents involving carriage horses.
In April, a carriage horse was injured after it got loose and ran into a vehicle in the Griffintown neighbourhood. Last summer, photographs circulated online of a carriage horse slipping and falling after it stepped on a metal plate.
The owner of the horse that slipped, Luc Desparois, said the animal was not injured and that vets routinely inspect the horses.
An animal rights activist said she hopes to see the caleche ban become permanent.
"I think it would be best and it makes sense just to retire the horses and make this a part of the history of Montreal," said Mirella Colallilo with the Anti-Caleche Defense Coalition. "We move on, we evolve, and things change."
“This is a positive step, but for us, again, we’ve been asking for years to see a phase-out,” Alanna Devine, director of animal advocacy for the Montreal SPCA told CTV Montreal. “And what we hope to see after this moratorium is certainly a continuation of the prohibition on carriage horses.”
A similar debate is ongoing in Victoria, B.C., where animal rights activists have launched a petition to ban the business.
With files from CTV Montreal and The Canadian Press.
