EQUINES :: Carriage Industry
FOLLO THE M W ONEY
Carriage Enterprise Oversight an Ongoing Disaster
By JOE ELMORE CHARLESTON ANIMAL SOCIETY PRESIDENT AND CEO This video screen grab shows terrified passengers trying to hang on after their carriage horse was startled by a passing truck in June. The incident was first falsely reported as a hit-and-run.
In the mid-2000s, the City of Charleston requested Charleston Animal Society to be a member of a special committee to recommend regulations for the carriage horse enterprise in Charleston following a whistleblower’s complaints and photos of inhumane conditions and practices. The City recognized the recommended regulations as in the “best interest of protecting the health, safety and welfare of the animals used in the tourism industry and the motorists and pedestrians using the public right-of-ways along with residents and tourists of the City.” In 2015, Charleston Animal Society formed a committee to address the numerous complaints it consistently received regarding the working conditions of the animals. It was discovered that many of the fundamental regulations were neither followed by the operators nor enforced by the City. Since that time, the Animal Society has worked with other advocacy groups recommending reform to promote humane working conditions and fewer people and animals injured in this tourist attraction.
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n August 2020, a local nonprofit advocacy organization, Charleston Carriage Horse Advocates (CCHA), introduced a common sense safety measure, supported by the Preservation Society of Charleston, neighborhood assocations, Charleston Animal Society and others, to City Council, which would enhance the safety of citizens (both adults and children), tourists, carriage industry employees and carriage horses. Nothing in the measure would adversely impact the profits generated from the tourist attraction. Why enhanced safety measures? Since 2016, CCHA states that they are aware of at least 120 documented safety related incidents in Charleston. This is an alarming statistic, especially since yet 16
CAROLINA TAILS | FALL 2021
another horse was killed last year and this tourist attraction has resulted in countless injuries to both humans and animals, including the death of both. With the population density continually increasing in the downtown area along with accelerating construction, which is a major contributing factor to many carriage incidents since equines are so easily spooked, significant precautions should be taken, as they have been in other cities, to increase the safety of this tourist enterprise. However, without the advocacy of organizations such as Charleston Carriage Horse Advocates, Charleston Animal Society and others, progress on this issue would be stagnant. For the record,Charleston Animal Society has never called for a ban on this enterprise,
only for significant reform guided by an independent study. Note: An increasing number of cities in both the United States and overseas have banned this enterprise altogether. Six years ago, following a horrific incident where a carriage horse lay helpless on the street for nearly three hours in July, the Animal Society requested the City to conduct an independent review of the incident for the purpose of preventing future incidents. A review, albeit not independent, was conducted with recommendations – that was in 2015. Most of the common sense recommendations, such as equine first responder training and equine triage kits, structured training of carriage drivers and horses, driver competency examinations,
