Letter - Victoria Horse Alliance

Join us in telling Victoria city council not to renew the leases for the unethical horse carriage industry.

What you can do:

1) Use our email form below to contact mayor and council. You can use our pre-written message, or write your own. Just click “Submit” and it will be sent to mayor and council.

2) Send a personalized email to council from your own email address. This has a higher chance of getting into council’s inboxes and not being marked as spam.

3) Call council members and leave a polite message encouraging them to not renew the lease for another 5 years, and set a clear plan for phasing out the carriages.

You can find contact information for Victoria mayor and council on the City of Victoria website here.

Council email form

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Dear Victoria Mayor and Council,

I am writing to ask that you do not renew the lease agreement for the unethical horse-drawn carriage industry in Victoria which is coming up for renewal.

Since the lease was renewed 5 years ago in 2018, there has been countless documented concerns related to the carriage industry. These include documentation of serious traffic accidents (including a month after the lease was renewed and just last July when a horse bolted down Menzies and crashed), horses being forced to work in extreme weather conditions of both high heat and dangerous smoke particulate from wildfires, safety issues with cyclists and motor vehicles, a second whistleblower report from a former carriage driver of unaddressed welfare concerns, carriage representatives providing false information to the police and the media, and more.

Despite all this, city council made no changes to the regulation of this industry, nor committed to getting horses off the streets.   What does that say about how the City of Victoria treats animals to its citizens and visitors from around the world?  It says we don't care and that is unacceptable.

Every accident, every welfare issue, every horse that suffers is your responsibility as you continue to allow this outdated industry to continue.  In 2018, the BC SPCA recommended to city council that horse carriages and trolleys be prohibited on city streets, but no action was taken. Now is your opportunity to be leaders, respond to the years of documented concerns, and confidently say "no" to another five years of inhumane exploitation of horses on your city streets.

Enough is enough. The carriage industry has become the shame of Victoria. Tourists from around the world come here and can't believe we still have horse carriages when more progressive cities have banned them, such as Montreal in 2020. That is why there is a Change.org petition with over 44,000 signatures on it from residents and people abroad calling on you to ban this industry.

Please Victoria mayor and council, show compassion and conviction for our shared values that animals not be exploited for entertainment.  Vote "nay" to renewing the carriage industry's lease for another 5 years and set a clear path for phasing out this sunset industry once and for all.

Thank you