Montreal's historic horse-drawn carriage tours are set to stop operating starting in 2020.
A horse-drawn carriage passes by in a street of Old Montreal, Quebec, Canada on December 22, 2019.Montreal's horse-drawn carriages will be taken off the roads on December 31, ending a long feud between the city and coachmen and a quaint means of local travel that dates back to the 1600s. MONTREAL -- To tourists they are a time-honored, charming way of seeing the sights but animal rights activists say Montreal's horse-drawn carriages are a cruel and unnecessary relic of yesteryear.
In the heart of Montreal's Old Port neighborhood, a half dozen horses and carriages are lined up outside the Notre Dame basilica, waiting for riders. "It's a unique way to see the city rather than just taking the bus or the subway," says Mujtaba Ali, 29, who is visiting with family from neighboring Ontario, as he steps off a carriage.
The death of a horse in 2018 while pulling a carriage was the last straw for animal rights groups, and prompted mayor Valerie Plante to speak out against the carriage industry, saying it was no longer welcome in Montreal."It is a tradition that has long been appreciated but today I think it is time to move on," said Jean-François Parenteau, the city's pointman in the case.
City Hall, under pressure from activists, had long sought to ban the carriages, but until now had managed only incremental steps, such as requiring horses be taken off the road when summer temperatures soared.In April, to prevent out-of-work horses from ending up at slaughterhouses, the city said it would pay the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Can$1,000 for each horse offered a refuge or adoptive family.
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