The image of a 15-year-old calèche horse collapsing and dying on an Old Montreal street last Sunday sparked sadness and outrage on social media, and renewed calls for the industry to be banned outright.
The Plante administration has signaled its intention to ban calèches from Montreal's streets by the end of 2019, but at least one animal rights group says that target date should be moved up — to right now, if possible.
"There no good way of regulating an industry that is very cruel on animals," says Gabriel Villeneuve, the head of the Society for the Protection of Animals Canada (SPA Canada). "If they have regulations where they're not allowed to use those horses two or three hours a day, it's better than nothing, but we really hope that this industry will end as soon as possible. Tomorrow would be the best."
Villeneuve suggests, essentially, that the horses are being treated like slaves, working and living in miserable conditions. The horses, SPA Canada says, don't react well to the stressful conditions and pollution in a big city like Montreal.
The group was instrumental in pushing the Plante administration to include a calèche ban in its new animal control bylaw, which it introduced back in June. Villeneuve says they still have the ear of the Plante administration.
"They listened to us, so we're very glad about that," Villeneuve says. "They're promising for [Jan. 1,] 2020, and hopefully they're respect their engagement. But they have been listening to our requests."