From London to Paris, horse-drawn carriages are being banned; Prague could be next

Activists from Hlas zvířat (Voice of Animals) claim that the horses are suffering due to the working conditions. They are using the slogan, “A horse is not a machine” (Kůň není stroj!).

The petition points out that similar bans are in effect in Barcelona, Toronto, Beijing, London, Oxford and Paris, and that it was restricted or would soon be banned in Montreal, Chicago, and Rome. Close to 8,400 people have signed the petition since March 2019.

The petition is on a site run by Hlas zvířat and dedicated to the horse issue. “Horses are by nature very sensitive to loud sounds, and any sudden sound can startle them. … In busy cities, there is a risk that the horse will startle at any time, endangering the lives of itself and the people around it. However, it is not just noise that makes cities an absolutely unsuitable environment for horses. Exhaust gases from cars have an adverse effect on the health of horses,” the site Kunnenistroj.cz states.

The site includes a photo of a horse that collapsed in the street in New York City, where horse rides in Central Park are a big tourist attraction. Research in the 1980s on horses in New York showed that traffic caused breathing difficulties, similar to what smokers experience and the hard pavement hurt the horses’ limbs, Hlas zvířat claims.

The operators of the carriages deny the charges of abuse. One operator told new server Seznam zprávy that the horses had special shoes to protect their hooves, as well as access to water from a hydrant in the summer at Old Town Square and blankets in the winter. The carriages are not in operation from January to March.

Operators also claim that no serious accidents have occurred in recent years. They add that they pay the city fees to operate as well, which would be lost if the activity was to be banned.