PETA to Mayor Jackson: Ban Dangerous, Cruel Horse-Drawn Carriages

Runaway Carriage Incident Highlights the Risk to Horses and the Public

For Immediate Release:
April 17, 2014

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

On the heels of an April 14 incident in which a horse pulling a carriage full of tourists reportedly became spooked and careened through downtown Savannah—smashing into five cars and leaving the driver with a broken foot—PETA has sent an urgent letter to Savannah Mayor Edna Branch Jackson calling on her to implement a ban on horse-drawn carriages in the city. As PETA points out in its letter, similar incidents have occurred in nearly every city in which horse-drawn carriages operate, often injuring or killing horses, motorists, onlookers, carriage operators, or passengers.

“Forcing horses to pull heavy loads through city traffic is cruel, and it’s always an accident waiting to happen,” says PETA Foundation Deputy General Counsel Delcianna Winders. “This frightening incident should be a wake-up call that the only way to protect Savannah’s tourists, residents, and horses is to ban horse-drawn carriages, and PETA urges the mayor to act now, before tragedy strikes—with potentially deadly results.”

A growing number of cities—including Biloxi, Miss.; Key West, Palm Beach, Pompano Beach, and Treasure Island, Fla.; Camden, N.J.; and Delhi, Oxford, and Tel Aviv—have banned commercial horse-drawn carriage operations, and these operations are also extremely restricted in London, Paris, Rome, and Toronto.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.