End of horse-drawn carriages in Prague's historic center
End of horse-drawn carriages in Prague's historic center | Photo: Public domain

Earlier this month, Prague's Municipal Council voted to terminate the rental permit for horse-drawn carriages in Old Town Square. Specifically, the historic 1994 lease agreement with the Guild of Fiacrists and Carriers (the carriage driving association) was terminated with immediate effect. The decision was motivated by both a change in commercial regulations and animal welfare concerns. For example, there had long been concerns about the harsh working conditions for the horses; they experience stress from busy city life, are regularly involved in unsafe traffic situations, and suffer from the sweltering Prague summers, which can cause extreme heat in the streets. Inhalation exhaust fumes also leads to long-term health problems for the animals. Fortunately, this has been resolved immediately.  

Decision of the Prague City Council

The decision also drew criticism. Some opposition members in the municipality and representatives of the coachmen's guild called it a "break with tradition" and a loss for tourism. The coachmen's guild also stated that there is no reason to be concerned about animal welfare . According to the guild, all reports of poor welfare conditions are "unfounded assumptions," and the horses are well cared for. However, the municipality points out that the measure fits within a broader plan to renovate the historic city center. In that context, Segways and beer bikes have already been banned from the city center.   

Horse-drawn carriage in the historic center of Prague
Horse-drawn carriage in Prague's historic center | Photo: Public domain

Campaign

The Prague city council's decision was preceded by a campaign by the organization Voice of Animals ( Hlas Zvířat ). They collected over 16,000 signatures for the "A Horse Is Not a Machine" campaign, which called for an end to horse-drawn carriages in the city. The organization describes the reason for this campaign as follows:

Even though the first car was invented over 130 years ago and almost every family has one today, we continue to abuse animals. We've long since stopped doing this for survival, but for our own amusement. We make animals suffer in appalling conditions at the expense of their health, just for a few minutes of entertainment.

The animal welfare organization also pointed out that city horses are not given the opportunity to truly rest or display natural behavior, that their legs suffer as a result of the hard asphalt paving, and that discarded carriage horses usually end up at the slaughterhouse instead of retiring to a pasture.  

Animal exploitation on holiday

Prague's horse-drawn carriages were primarily used by tourists . Fortunately, the use of animals for tourism is increasingly under pressure. Holidaymakers are therefore increasingly said not to contribute to this. This means: no riding donkeys in Greece, no bathing elephants in Thailand, or riding camels in Morocco. Because no matter what the owners of these animals try to tell you, most animals don't lead happy lives and are forced to perform hard labor day in and day out. Fortunately, this message seems to be getting through. Prague's decision is part of this positive trend, and hopefully, it will continue.  


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©AnimalsToday.nl Femke Oosterbaan Martinius