The ongoing debate over the future of horse-drawn carriages in Victoria resumed Thursday with city councillors agreeing to ask the B.C. SPCA for its opinion on proposed new regulations.
One of the changes suggested by Coun. Ben Isitt would limit the carriages to operating in James Bay and Beacon Hill Park, and effectively bar them from Chinatown and sections of Government Street in the downtown core.
Other possible regulations would require the use of carriages pulled by one horse instead of a team, and would prevent horses from working in poor air-quality conditions or temperatures above 28 C.
Isitt told a committee of the whole meeting that he still favours phasing out the carriages entirely. “But I don’t think there’s majority support on this council, unfortunately,” he said. “So I think we are going to have to look at some measures that don’t go as far as a phase-out, but reduce the level of risk and, in particular, reduce the conflicts between other road users and the horse-drawn vehicles.”
Isitt suggested the new regulations after the SPCA appeared before councillors Thursday to clarify its position on horse-drawn carriages.
Councillors had requested the meeting due to confusion over two seemingly contradictory letters the SPCA sent to council last year following an incident in which a carriage was bumped by a bus.
The SPCA initially called on council to ban horse-drawn carriages from city streets and restrict their use to a park environment. They also recommended that horse-drawn vehicles be limited to those that require a single horse to operate — a move that would likely eliminate the use of trolleys.
In a follow-up letter, the society made no mention of a ban, and said it would “welcome a solutions-based policy approach that reviews existing practices, barriers and opportunities for horse-carriage operation.”
Marcie Moriarty, the SPCA’s chief prevention and enforcement officer, explained Thursday that the society was unaware at the time of its first letter that the rules governing Beacon Hill Park likely prevented carriages from operating solely in the park.
“We thought, to be fair, we’ll come back and say we’re open for other suggestions,” she said, referring to the second letter.
Moriarty added that the SPCA isn’t pushing one particular option, but rather stressing that “minimizing risk” to the animals needs to be a major consideration.
Donna Friedlander, owner of Tally-Ho Carriage Tours and a spokesperson for the local horse-carriage industry, expressed mixed emotions about the developments Thursday.
She said her industry welcomes regulation as long as it makes sense.
“I think the disappointment comes from the fact that neither the city nor the SPCA has actually brought us to the table in any way yet to discuss the issues,” she said. “That’s disappointing and it’s frustrating, because we’re continuing down a pathway where this perceived risk is huge and it’s actually not changed.”
Friedlander added that the horse-carriage industry in Victoria has a strong safety record. “If there’s room for improvement, we’re happy to make it. It’s just we need to be at the table to discuss what it is, so it’s actually effecting good changes.”
As for the specific regulations proposed by Isitt, Friedlander said they miss the mark in terms of improving the welfare or safety of the horses.
“We don’t operate in conditions in Victoria that we need to worry about weather,” she said. “The weather temperature regulations are more for cities [like those] in South Carolina.
“Our veterinarians are the best people to discuss that, not the SPCA. They’re not vets. The veterinarians know what temperatures horses can work in.”
In addition, Friedlander said the carriage industry already operates mostly within Isitt’s proposed boundaries of Cook Street, Humboldt Street, Dallas Road and Victoria Harbour.
“There’s not really any change there, and again, the SPCA doesn’t know where we operate and how we operate.”
Finally, Friedlander said there are key benefits to having horses work in teams as opposed to having a single horse pulling a carriage.
“We need to talk to the experts, not the people who are not the experts,” she said.
“It would be a loss to Victoria to lose the teams and the trolleys. It would be a loss to the cruise ship industry, to the tourism industry as a whole.”
