PETA Statement: Horse-Drawn Carriage Rides Must End

For Immediate Release:
July 21, 2020

Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382

Below, please find a statement from PETA Senior Vice President Dan Mathews in response to the death of Ervin, a horse used by the Old South Carriage Co. who ran through the streets of Charleston while pulling an empty carriage on Sunday night, injured his legs, and was euthanized:

If anyone was waiting for a sign that horse-drawn carriage rides must end: it’s the horse who lost his life in the latest accident. Forcing a skittish animal to pull an oversized carriage, breathe toxic exhaust fumes, and risk serious leg ailments by pounding the pavement all day is a recipe for disaster. Horses in Charleston have tipped over a carriage, wandered loose through the streets, and crashed into cars, and this horse’s needless death is exactly why PETA is calling on Charleston to be the next city to ban horse-drawn carriages.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.