Chicago has taken a step forward in the protection of animal rights: from 1 January 2021, horse-drawn carriages will no longer be permitted to operate in the American city.
The circulation of carriages drawn by horses will be banned in the city of Chicago, in the United States, from 2021. In other words, from 1 January no new licences will be issued, nor will expired ones be renewed. While in the past a considerable number of carriages used to travel along the streets of the "windy city", there are currently only ten licensed carriage drivers — whose licences expire at the end of the year.
The decision was taken by the City Council, which on Friday 24 April approved the measure with 46 votes in favour out of 50. The news was welcomed with great satisfaction by animal rights organisations that have long campaigned to safeguard the rights of horses. Although the city already had certain rules in place for carriage drivers — such as a reduction of working hours to six, mandatory breaks, a ban on carrying more than seven passengers per carriage and on operating in temperatures above 32 degrees — according to activists the animals' health was still not being adequately protected.
Jodie Wiederkehr, campaigns director of the Chicago alliance for animals, has spent years documenting the abuse suffered by horses as they pull carriages through traffic, on surfaces wholly unsuitable for their delicate joints. Kitty Block, president of the Humane society, explained that "these animals are subjected to cruel working conditions, frequently suffering from chronic illnesses, including respiratory disorders and lameness, which are worsened by prolonged time spent on hard surfaces and by pulling overloaded vehicles." The president of Peta (People for the ethical treatment of animals), Ingrid Newkirk, also declared that 24 April will be remembered as a turning point for Chicago's horses, who will no longer be forced to trot on asphalt in the heat, through thunderstorms or blizzards.
Rome's mayor, Virginia Raggi, also signed an ordinance in the summer of 2019 that, on the hottest days, permitted carriages to operate only after 6:00 pm and only when the temperature was below 30 degrees; however, the carriage drivers appealed to the administrative court and won. Similar regulations are not sufficient in any case, because "the air temperature reported by weather services is often considerably lower than the microenvironment temperature experienced by carriage horses, owing to hot asphalt, cars and humidity," explains Carlotta Caminiti, veterinary surgeon.
"On some days of the year, the temperature of city asphalt can reach as high as 80 degrees Celsius and therefore, even when resting in the shade, horses risk being unable to cool down adequately." In such cases, "the metabolic oxygen requirement can exceed the amount that breathing, however greatly accelerated, can supply to the animal, which will then enter a state of anaerobiosis (the muscles no longer produce energy using oxygen, but draw on the muscles' glycogen reserves), resulting in the production of large quantities of lactic acid," the vet continues. "The accumulation of lactic acid in the muscles creates muscular pain and severe chronic fatigue that causes these horses to appear visibly prostrated, apathetic and with a marked tendency to stumble, and in the most serious cases to collapse."
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During the same period, the Transport Committee approved an amendment to restrict the circulation of botticelle — as the carriages are called in the capital — to parks or nature reserves only, or on the occasion of public events of a religious, cultural, historical or popular-tradition nature. Since then, however, there has been no progress and the proposal has remained stuck somewhere in the bureaucratic process. As have the new stables built in the heart of Villa Borghese, which cost almost 1.4 million euros, which have never been used. The horses still live in the old, dilapidated structures of the former Testaccio slaughterhouse. And the botticelle are currently parked as a result of the containment measures related to the new coronavirus: the carriage drivers, left without work, risk being unable to provide for the animals' upkeep. So much so that the association Horse angels decided to step in, launching a fundraising campaign that enabled the purchase of hay and straw.
Another problem for horses forced to navigate city traffic is smog. "Their nostrils are constantly exposed to car exhaust pipes," points out Dr Caminiti. A study carried out on horses that pull carriages in Central Park in New York "highlighted how continuous exposure to exhaust fumes is harmful to lung tissue, as it causes significant changes at cellular level."
It was in the Big Apple that an incident occurred last March that sparked outrage among the international public: a twelve-year-old mare named Aisha, who worked in the park, collapsed to the ground and was unable to get back up, and was put down a few hours later. Mayor Bill de Blasio, who during his electoral campaign had promised to ban carriages from the streets, following the example of cities such as Salt Lake City, Palm Beach and Key West, wrote on Twitter that the episode would not be forgotten. We shall see whether he keeps his word. In 2018, carriage stopping areas were moved inside the perimeter of Central Park, near the entrances. But the stables have remained outside, and coachmen can still take tourists on board in the street.
"We must acknowledge that cities have changed enormously over the last hundred years: the contemporary urban environment is no longer compatible with animal-drawn vehicles," concludes Carlotta Caminiti. We no longer live in the nineteenth century. For more sustainable mobility, one can get around by electric car, scooter, bicycle, or on foot… And the lights of Buckingham Fountain blending with the glittering skyline of Chicago; the autumn colours that animate Central Park, the scent of resin and apple pie; the sunset grazing the Imperial Forums in the languid torpor of spring: these are romantic even without horses. If we love these magnificent living creatures, let us respect their nature. Let us go and visit them in the countryside, leaving the metropolises to be dominated only by the statues of those animals that remind us how ancient and indissoluble the bond between humans and horses truly is.
