FOCUS: The dilemma over carriage horses and the need for reform

By Joe Elmore, Charleston Animal Society  |  For over 142 years, Charleston Animal Society’s mission of preventing cruelty to animals has not changed. The organization was established by leading Charlestonians to be the protective voice for equines and other animals.

Today in downtown Charleston where the Animal Society was established as the first animal organization in South Carolina and one of the oldest in the nation, equines do not fare better due to an outdated and ineffective system of regulations governing what is commonly known as the carriage horse industry.

Elmore

In the early to mid-2000s, the City of Charleston requested Charleston Animal Society to participate in a work group commissioned by the city for the purpose of proposing regulations for controversial animal drawn vehicles operating in the Historic District. Due to the lengthy three-year process and the need to have something finalized, a set of regulations were proposed and adopted with the understanding that temperature effect would be further studied, but this did not happen.

In 2015 following years of numerous complaints and incidents involving the animal drawn vehicles, both carriages and wagons, Charleston Animal Society reviewed several aspects of the system related to the most pressing health and welfare considerations of the animals, both horses and mules. Serious flaws in the system were identified in the early stages prompting the Animal Society, by a unanimous vote of its 28-member board of directors, to deem the current practice of animal drawn vehicles in Charleston as cruel.

Charleston Animal Society is not against working animals provided that the working conditions and working environment are humane. This is not the case in Charleston.

Heat is the biggest issue

Perhaps the most compelling issue with the animals is the heat. The threshold of 98°F ambient temperature and 125°F heat index is arbitrary and too high. Until November 2015, the city ordinance required that the horses be removed from work when the ambient temperature reached 98°F; however, the Animal Society discovered that was not occurring, rather the city would not remove the horses until the temperature reached 98°F on consecutive recordings taken no less than 15 minutes apart. The operating protocol directly conflicted with the ordinance for all of those years. Furthermore, the temperature was measured atop buildings over four stories high, not in the working environment of the animals. Without public input, the city changed the ordinance in November 2015 to allow its previous noncompliance with the ordinance.

While industry spokesmen have stated that heat has not been a factor in the numerous and frequent incidents that have occurred, the incidents are not thoroughly investigated, if investigated at all. The ordinance requires that the driver of the animal drawn vehicle submit an incident report within 24 hours; however, the Animal Society discovered that, time and again, the company management back at the office completes the reports.

Load, congestion impact conditions

Load exacerbates the effect of temperature. The ordinance requires that the horse not pull more than three times its weight.  However, this requirement was never implemented and is still not followed today. No one measures the weight of the load the horses are pulling. Charleston Animal Society is willing to purchase the scales so city officials can begin enforcing this portion of the ordinance.

Congestion has an adverse effect. These animals, many of which are imported from the northeast, are raised to work in agricultural settings, such as farming and logging, not conversing urban streets saturated with vehicles, pedestrian and heavy construction. Operators readily admit that the horses are spooked by plastic bags, wheelchairs, strollers, plastic supermarket bags and even manhole covers.

In July 2015, a horse named Blondie collapsed on the hot pavement while pulling a wagon full of tourists and lie helpless for approximately three hours. (NOTE:  Charleston Animal Society was on the scene and witnessed the inadequate response to the incident prompting the Animal Society to request a review to learn how these type of incidents could be prevented in the future and how the community could create a better response to incidents that harm these animals, a process similar to what happens in nearly all types of commercial transportation incidents.) Blondie was apparently spooked by a nearby cement truck. In the weeks prior to Blondie’s accident, there were two other horses spooked by city congestion, as reported by The Post and Courier, yet horses were continued to be placed in harm’s way.

The Post and Courier also discovered nine other incidents involving spooked horses, but the newspaper reported the city only keeps these kinds of records for three years. Multiple injuries to both the working animals and people continue to happen.

In April 2014, a horse pulling a carriage with passengers bolted out of control on city streets. The horse was spooked near the City Market, ending in a crash into the brick walls of the market. The most tragic incident was the death of Eugenia Smith in October 1984. A spooked horse ran through the market where she worked as vendor, resulting in her death. Yet to this day, conditions prompting horses to be spooked remain unchanged.

The system of compliance by operators and oversight by the city has failed. Now is the time for reform.

Again, the Charleston Animal Society is not against working animals. The Animal Society, like the overwhelming public, has lost confidence in the system. We have not made attacks on carriage horse operators or companies, only the system, which is broken. We stand ready to support bona fide efforts by the City, the industry, and citizens to make animal drawn vehicles a humane venture worthy of Charleston’s character.

Joe Elmore is CEO of the Charleston Animal Society.  Have a comment?  Send to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com.