The horse-drawn carriage industry in Dallas, Texas, was granted a reprieve by the City Council in late June 2024, following an extended barrage of targeted attacks from animal extremist groups.
Council Member Paul Ridley (District 14) is a member of the Quality of Life, Arts & Culture Committee. He ultimately saved the Dallas carriage industry by making a motion to amend the existing ordinance to expand animal welfare considerations even further, including temperate regulations and requiring documentation of exactly how and when the horses are used.
“A horse may not work to 90 degrees Fahrenheit or above, or when the thermal heat index exceeds 150 as measured by the National Weather Service at Love Field,” Ridley said. He also suggested requiring the driver of a horse-drawn carriage to maintain a daily record for each horse used, including total hours worked, amount and time of rest breaks, watering and feeding times for the horse, as well as record any traffic accidents.
“This motion will preserve a thriving small business. It will preserve the livelihood of 40 employees of that business. It will preserve the lives of several working horses. It will preserve a source of enjoyment of countless Dallas residents and visitors…If we ban this business, we are sending a bad message to future entrepreneurs and existing small business owners. This body could outlaw their business. Do we want that kind of message to be sent to our constituents?” said Ridley.
Horse-drawn carriage businesses have long been a preferred target of extremist groups due to a combination of the horses’ public presence, visibility, and the general public’s lack of experience with livestock. Extremist groups often focus attacks on what they perceive to be easy targets to set precedents and gain traction toward banning other uses of animals.
In recent years, the horse-drawn carriage industry has been under fire in other large US cities, including New York, Chicago, Austin, and San Antonio. Horse-drawn carriage businesses are tightly regulated to ensure the humane treatment and well-being of the horses used.
The decisive City Council meeting in Dallas included testimony from carriage business owners as well as animal extremists. The extremists predictably recited the mantra that “any animal use is oppression” and dramatized a small number of safety issues for horses, passengers, and other drivers that had occurred, one of which occurred over 30 years ago. There were roughly five incidents in a ten-year period out of literally hundreds of carriage rides given.
This cherry-picking of isolated incidents is standard in the animal extremist toolbox and has contributed to the extremist movement’s success in shutting down other animal-based enterprises, such as the legendary Ringling Brothers Circus, greyhound racing in most states, and the decades-old Griffith Park pony rides business in Los Angeles.
The continuation of Dallas horse-drawn carriages is certainly worthy of celebration, but as always, it is vital to stay aware and informed about issues at every level to preserve our Free and Fed America.
More about the horse-carriage industry HERE
More about the effects and implications of extremist attacks on animal industries HERE, HERE, and HERE
