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| A horse-drawn carriage passes by in a street of Old Montreal, Quebec, Canada on December 22, 2019.Montreal's horse-drawn carriages will be taken off the roads on December 31, ending a long feud between the city and coachmen and a quaint means of local travel that dates back to the 1600s. (AFP Photo/Eric THOMAS) |
Montreal (AFP) - To tourists they are a time-honored, charming way of seeing the sights but animal rights activists say Montreal's horse-drawn carriages are a cruel and unnecessary relic of yesteryear.
A
longstanding feud between the coachmen and their critics looks set to end
however with the unique mode of transport set to disappear from the streets of
Canada's second city by year end.
"You
can pet him if you want," Nathalie Matte tells onlookers attracted to her
hoofed beast with its flowing mane and tail.
In the
heart of Montreal's Old Port neighborhood, a half dozen horses and carriages
are lined up outside the Notre Dame basilica, waiting for riders.
A group of
tourists, tempted by offers of a languid and comfortable ride along cobblestone
streets, and a complimentary blanket across their lap on a cold winter's day,
snap pictures.
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Horse-drawn
carriages line up in front of the Notre-Dame basilica in Old-Montreal,
waiting
for tourists in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on December 22, 2019.Montreal's
horse-drawn carriages will be taken off the roads on December 31, ending a long
feud between the city and coachmen and a quaint means of local travel that
dates
back to the 1600s. (AFP Photo/Eric THOMAS)
|
The
carriages this time of year are decorated with red ribbons and fir branches to
mark the Christmas holidays.
"It's
a unique way to see the city rather than just taking the bus or the
subway," says Mujtaba Ali, 29, who is visiting with family from
neighboring Ontario, as he steps off a carriage.
Horses and
landaus -- four-wheel, convertible carriages named after the German city of
their origin -- are a part of Montreal's cultural heritage, says owner Luc
Desparois.
"They've
been around as long as Montreal has existed," he told AFP.
The Quebec
city was founded by European settlers in the 1600s at the site of an indigenous
village inhabited as far back as 4,000 years ago -- although the landau itself
was invented in the 18th century
City Hall
has ordered an end to the tourist rides out of concern for the horses. In 2018,
the council passed a by-law banishing horse-drawn carriages, starting in 2020.
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Two
horse-drawn carriages pass by in a street of Old Montreal, Quebec, Canada
on
December 22, 2019.Montreal's horse-drawn carriages will be taken off the roads
on December 31, ending a long feud between the city and coachmen and a quaint
means of local travel that dates back to the 1600s. (AFP Photo/Eric
THOMAS)
|
The death
of a horse in 2018 while pulling a carriage was the last straw for animal
rights groups, and prompted mayor Valerie Plante to speak out against the
carriage industry, saying it was no longer welcome in Montreal.
The
decision will put some 50 coachmen and their horses out of work.
Animal
welfare
"It is
a tradition that has long been appreciated but today I think it is time to move
on," said Jean-François Parenteau, the city's pointman in the case.
The city,
he said, must "show concern for the animals."
His
comments drew praise from Galahad, a Quebec association for the protection of
horses, which lobbied for the ban. Its founder Chamie Angie Cadorette said the
horses faced tough working conditions.
"It is
not just an hour a day. It is eight hours a day, going up and down roads in
traffic," she said, accusing horse owners of neglect.
"They
say they are mistreated. Prove it," retorts Desparois, who recently lost a
legal challenge to the ban.
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A
coachwoman puts a cover on her horse while waiting for tourists in freezing
temperatures in Old Montreal, Quebec, Canada on December 22, 2019.Montreal's
horse-drawn carriages will be taken off the roads on December 31, ending a
long
feud between the city and coachmen and a quaint means of local travel
that
dates back to the 1600s. (AFP Photo/Eric THOMAS)
|
City Hall,
under pressure from activists, had long sought to ban the carriages, but until
now had managed only incremental steps, such as requiring horses be taken off
the road when summer temperatures soared.
That did
not satisfy animal rights groups.
In April,
to prevent out-of-work horses from ending up at slaughterhouses, the city said
it would pay the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Can$1,000
(US$760) for each horse offered a refuge or adoptive family.
As of
December 16, only one application to join the program had been made.
The offer
is a "total insult" for Desparois, owner of the Lucky Luc stable,
which has a total of 15 horses and employs 15 coachmen.
"You
could offer me $10,000 tomorrow morning and I would not sell them to you,"
he said, adding that after 34 years in the business his animals mean more to
him than money could.
After the
ban comes into effect, the "king of horse-drawn carriages" -- as
local media has dubbed him -- plans to take his horses to other nearby
communities or maybe even to Ottawa.
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Coachwoman
Nathalie Matte, 52, who's about to lose her job after Montreal's
horse-drawn
carriages will be taken off the roads on December 31, waits for
passengers in
Montreal, Quebec, Canada on December 22, 2019.Montreal's
horse-drawn carriages
will be taken off the roads on December 31, ending a long
feud between the city
and coachmen and a quaint means of local travel that
dates back to the 1600s. (AFP
Photo/Eric THOMAS)
|
Neither
option, he says, will be as profitable as rides in the Old Port, where he
charges Can$53 per half hour ride or Can$85 for an hour with an average of two
to seven rides per day.
Older
coachmen will simply take early retirement. Others will likely leave the
profession.
"I
won't have a choice but to quit. I won't have the means to move to
Ottawa," said Nathalie Matte, 52, a coachwoman who plans to return to a
previous job as a groom.
City Hall,
meanwhile, is working on a retraining program to help coachmen transition to
other tourist jobs.
