City looks to rein in horse-drawn carriages
Randy Tucker, manager for Tally-Ho Carriage Tours, pets his horse Cruz near the corner of Menzies and Belleville streets in downtown Victoria.
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In the eyes of City of Victoria, there’s no different between a horse-drawn carriage and a petty cab.
It’s a distinction council is considering but, caring for horses, isn’t as easy to regulate.
“Our (community charter) may not be able to have animal welfare in our actual bylaw,” said Coun. Charlayne Thornton-Joe. The provincial charter regulates the powers of most municipal governments in B.C.
Vancouver, however, has its own charter and does have a provision for the care of horses.
The rules regulate horses’ retirement age, length of shift and type of shoes. It also requires the operators to submit annual veterinarian inspections and immediately clean up any manure that hits the street.
“If were going to have horse-drawn carriages on our streets, I want to ensure there are policies in place to protect the welfare of the horses,” said Thornton-Joe.
The self-described animal lover initiated the motion after a couple of incidents of horses getting spooked made headlines early this year.
The incidents spurred People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to urge council to ban horse-drawn carriages altogether.
At this point, a ban is not under discussion, Thornton-Joe said, who chairs Victoria’s community development committee.
On Thursday, the committee met and voted in favour of a legal review to see how Victoria might adopt Vancouver’s guidelines.
The move leaves operator Randy Tucker of Tally-Ho Carriage Tours with mixed feelings.
In theory, he approves of regulatory oversight.
“We’re doing 90 per cent of this anyways,” he said. Some of Vancouver’s policies, however, are misguided, he said.
“Restricting the age (that a horse can work) from four to 20 is patently ridiculous and would put us out of business,” Tucker said. “Horses, like humans, need to keep active to stay fit ... so they’re condemning a lot of our really fine horses to death by doing that.”
Draft horses live longer than other breeds, he added.
“What am I going to do with a 25-year-old horse?” he asked. “I just got to feed him for the rest of his life or am I going to sell him to the meat man? I don’t want to do any of those things.”
rholmen@saanichnews.com
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