Ban Horse and Carriage Rides in the City of Melbourne. Victoria

the carriage drivers are probably too poor to own a horse...

they'd be working FOR someone... someone relies heavily on this business...

or... treating the horses badly wouldn't happen, because they'd have the open mind,
feeling of freedom to care and look after their animals...

a slack in standards shows a pressure for revenue to support a growing number of people relying on an established system...


Looking after animals... while working with them... is bad?

It is not a reason to harm them, I don't see how ending this business is in anyones interests..
have you bothered to consider what will happen to the horses if they aren't employed?

Are the bankrupt owners going to be better able to look after them and feed them and upkeep???

OR

while they HAVE an income... are they more able to make changes WE as a rational body can seek and help to change... or prompt a governing body to change for us?

I'm still going for monitoring the treatment of these animals and having strict regulations on those who use them... not road rule wise... but animal welfare wise... which may simply be... MUCH less time working.. more time resting and drinking water.. maybe some places they can stop in the city.. designated by the government...

but sure... ban these horses to an uncertain future...

it obviously is an excuse to hurt them to do anything else

So glad to see this i have signed and shared. I hope other people can recognise the harm being done and sign too x

The thing is Casper.s2, that these horses are scared out of their minds.
The cars, loud noises, pollution in the air, it's just not good for the horses in any way, shape or form.

They are simply exploiting these horses for profit. There is no other reason this is being done.
It's certainly not for transport, since there is so much public transport in Melbourne and most people walk anyway.

I just hope in the process they actually consider the current work horses and find them loving homes, not just stop this from happening in future, but take care of the current pressing issue.

Which never seems to happen.

It doesn't seem very well thought through, that is all.

I have been wanting to set-up a petition to ban horse and carriages for a long time now, particularly after speaking with someone who has grown up with horses all of her life and explained the tragic pain and suffering these animals face, just purely from the fact that their bodies are not physically made to trot on such unnatural terrain. This of course, does not take into account the unseen lives of these horses after 'working hours'.
Last night I was completely pushed to the edge as I was walking around near Macaulay station, Kensington, only to see where these poor horses are kept after hours. Let's be honest, I wasn't expecting green pastures and open fields of happiness for these horses- but keeping them in what looks like a shipping yard in the middle of the city with absolutely no grass or natural environment in sight, I was shocked. The whole area smelt of horse manure, with shipping containers all around. Now I don't know if these horses are actually kept in the containers- but me and my partner seemed to see little else in sight for them to be stored in?
Please tell me how this can still be happening, in a 'progressive' country like Australia? New york, Paris and a whole list of other cities have banned this shocking exercise, and surely it's time we do the same? What truly amazes me is that people actually pay for this disgusting tourist attraction, shame on them.

There's a new petition on this topic here (current June 2014):

http://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/ban-horse-drawn-carriages-in-the-city-of-melbourne-not-as-romantic-as-you-might-think

i couldn't sign it because it was closed

ps there were only 290 who signed it!!





JD