Philadelphia, a city that hasn't had a horse-drawn carriage company in operation since 2023, has voted to outlaw the practice of using horses as draft animals.
Now, it might be tempting to think they've outlawed the practice because we live in the modern era of the horseless buggy, and the city isn't really built for a horse and carriage anymore, but that's not the reason the city council gave for voting to ban horse-drawn carriages.
They banned them because animal rights activists called it "animal cruelty."
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports,
Horse-drawn carriage rides are not a harmless tourist attraction. They are an outdated industry that forces horses to work in dangerous, stressful, and unnatural conditions. These horses are made to pound pavement for hours at a time, surrounded by loud traffic, construction, extreme weather, and unpredictable city environments," Tiffany Stair, co-founder of the animal rights group Revolution Philadelphia, told City Council in support of the legislation.
The ban takes effect June 26, 2026, with fines of $1,000 per day for violations.
Oddly enough, horse-drawn carriages had largely vanished from Philadelphia until 1976, when the 76 Carriage Company reintroduced them to celebrate the 200th birthday of the country by giving historical tours.
How appropriate that the city council, that's chosen to use America's 250th birthday to celebrate the history of every culture in the city except America's, would also ban a practice specifically created to celebrate America's unique history.
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