Montreal announces new animal bylaw, moves to ban horse-drawn carriages
MONTREAL — The elegant draft horses that pull tourist caleches through Old Montreal will soon be clip-clopping their way into the city’s history books as the municipal administration moves forward with a plan to ban the activity as of 2020.
City Coun. Craig Sauve said Thursday he’s introducing a regulation to end the horse-drawn carriages amid growing concern over the welfare of the animals, despite tighter rules imposed on the industry in recent years.
“The conclusions are clear: the unfortunate incidents involving horses and caleches have continued to occur,” he told a news conference.
There have been at least four accidents involving carriage horses since 2014, as well as several hundred citizen complaints over the treatment of the horses, according to data provided by the city.