WILMINGTON — While the City of Wilmington is working on addressing a new medallion system to regulate horse-drawn carriage tours in the city, another group is hoping to see the practice of animal-powered tours eliminated completely.
Elizabeth Gordon is the founder of the group Resist Horse-Drawn Carriages in Wilmington, a part of the larger group, Partnership to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages Worldwide.
“We believe that horse-drawn carriages are completely unnecessary in the 21st century and would like to see them phased out entirely. Until then, though, we want to protect the horses as much as possible and encourage strong regulations of an industry that rests, literally, on the backs of these animals,” Gordon said.
On Monday morning City Council had its agenda review meeting, during which the topic of the newly proposed regulations was brought up.
Mayor Pro Tem Margret Haynes brought up several concerns she had with the new ordinance, mostly dealing with the fact the ordinance was written to heavily favor the existing horse-drawn carriage tours in Wilmington, but also with lack of protections for the horses themselves in the new ordinance.
While the newly proposed rules would address the welfare of the animals to an extent, Gordon says Wilmington’s regulations are still far behind other cities in the country.
“The problem, as I see it, is that unlike limos and taxis, horses are living, breathing animals. The city is attempting to deal with horse carriage businesses by focusing on the carriage part, but neglecting the horse doing the work. Is the individual who inspects vehicles even qualified to inspect horses or to oversee their wellbeing?” Gordon said.
A comparison
Gordon also offered a chart with the comparisons of different regulations among cities including, New York, Charleston, Cincinnati, and Chicago juxtaposed with Wilmington’s proposed regulations.
It’s no secret that heat causes problems for animals as well as humans in the summer, that is why all of the cities on the list have regulations of when horses can be worked.
In the proposed Wilmington regulations work would stop when the temperature reaches 95 degrees or a heat index reaches 105 degrees. This is a tie for the hottest allowable working conditions for the horses across the five cities.
In New York, Cincinnati, and Chicago horses are not permitted to work in any weather warmer than 90 degrees. In Charleston, at 85 degrees a horses temperature must be checked hourly and work must stop when the animal’s internal temperature reaches 103 degrees. All work must stop when the temperature reaches 95 degrees or a heat index of 105 degrees.
When it comes to required breaks and water stops for the animals, the City of Wilmington proposes none. It is the only city of the five to not require breaks. Most of the other cities require a 10-15 minute break with water in between tours or within certain increments of time.
Much like human labor laws, other cities have shift-length limits for horses; again, Wilmington proposed none.
City Council will vote on the new regulations on Tuesday.
Horse Carriage Ordinances COMPARISON by Michael James on Scribd
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