Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages!

About a week ago I got a frantic call from my friend Jayde telling me that she witnessed one of the Carriage Horses (who drag around tourists) fall on the street and get caught up in the reins. I asked her to run back and take photos of the horse … not because I wanted to see the carnage but because the Carriage Tour Groups try and hide what’s happening with the horses so they clean up any evidence “spills” before the public can see.

By the time she got back to the scene … it was all cleaned up and the poor horse was gone.

Well yesterday nobody could hide what happened. A beautiful horse named Sarg was clipped by a tour bus. Spooked he threw his rider off the carriage and barreled down the busy Victoria downtown streets in fear. My husband Gerry actually saw the horse and carriage bolting down Wharf Street in front of Tattoo Zoo. In the carriage was a customer screaming for help because there was nobody driving the carriage and Sargent was hell bent on getting back to his “home”.

FYI. His “home” is a corner on one of the busiest tourist streets in Victoria where all the tour buses, cars, and tourists converge. Sarge and his other horse buddies stand on the hot road (breathing in car/bus fumes) waiting to drag tourists around Victoria and it’s the last place a horse should be hanging out.

CTV did a story last night on what happened. Notice how the owner of the Carriage Tour can’t even look the cameraman in the eye. That’s called SHAME!

We need to use this incident to save Sarge and his buddies from their slave-work on the downtown streets. We need to find them a sanctuary where they can live out the rest of their lives with dignity. These horses do not belong on the streets of Victoria and we must be moved to action to push Victoria to ban these carriages from the downtown streets.

Please come to Sarah’s Place (560 Johnson Street) and sign the Friends of Animals BAN HORSE DRAWN CARRIAGES petition. I have a petition ready for both Residents and Visitors to Victoria. There is also a Carriage-Free Victoria facebook page for more info.