While many cities around the globe are now banning the cruel inustry, Fort Myers Florida is considering bringing in horse drawn carriages to the downtown area. The temperatures are in the 90s with heat indexes well over 100 degrees. Horses cannot tolerate these extreme temps so bringing them here will be a death sentence. We need to show the City Council members we do NOT want suffering horses on our streets! Please sign and share this urgent petition now to help the horses before it even starts. FORT MYERS: HAVE A HEART, DON'T EVEN START!
Streets become filthy and accidents have occurred in nearly every city where carriage rides are allowed. Horses drop dead in the streets, yet people continue to look at their terrible suffering as "romantic" or "a ride downtown.These horses are seen struggling even without a load in their carriage, and load capacity laws are not enforced anywhere someone is making money. Horses were never meant to work in an urban environment. Horse carriages and modern traffic are not compatible and no adjustments to the law will ever make these conditions acceptable or safe for all involved- for both horses and people.
When horses grow too old, tired, or ill to continue pulling heavy loads, they aren't retired to green pastures and loving homes as many people are led to believe. It's cost-prohibitive to maintain a permanent sanctuary for the countless numbers of horses who break down in this industry. Instead, many worn-out horses are slaughtered and turned into food for dogs or for carnivores in zoos, or else they're shipped overseas for human consumption.
Unfortunately anti-cruelty laws provide few safeguards for horses, and many animal control authorities just don't have the resources or the time to monitor horse-drawn carriages in order to ensure that horses are not being overworked and that operators are following regulations. Law enforcement relies on the carriage companies to willingly comply, but any person(s) that stand to collect monetary gain cannot be trusted to have the animal’s best interest.
Please, please, please help us keep the cruelty and filth of horse carriages out of our beautiful Fort Myers!! There is no excuse for this type of animal abuse. Carriage rides are not romantic, they are an outdated relic that has no place in a progressive modern society.
