Download the full letter in support of a ban here, or read the full statement below.

Letter From Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association in support of banning horse carriages in Savannah

November 1, 2023

Mayor Van Johnson

Savannah City Hall, 2nd Floor

2 East Bay Street

Savannah, GA 31401

RE: VETERINARY SUPPORT for Ending Carriage Horse Rides in Savannah Dear Mayor Johnson,

The Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association is a national association of veterinary  professionals with a focus on animal health and welfare. HSVMA has approximately 9,000  veterinary professional members nationwide, including 60 members in Georgia. On behalf of  our membership, HSVMA is writing in support of a legislative ban on horse-drawn carriages  in the City of Savannah. 

We acknowledge that carriage horse rides in urban settings remain popular tourist attractions  in many cities. Unfortunately, they place the horses in inappropriate environments that are  detrimental to their health and well-being. Horse-drawn carriages and motor vehicles should  not share the same roadways, as doing so puts the animals and the public at risk. With their  exhaust fumes, hard road surfaces, and busy traffic patterns, cities are simply not humane—as  opposed to survivable—environments for carriage horses.

As veterinary professionals with expertise in animal health and welfare, we provide more  detailed enumeration below of the reasons for supporting a ban on horse-drawn carriages in  the City of Savannah.

  • Sourcing of Horses for the Carriage Horse Industry

To achieve maximum profit with a minimum expenditure of time and resources,  horses purchased for urban carriage rides are selected based on prior exposure to  carriage use. Those purchased at auctions (often from “killer sales”) in the northeast  are typically from one of two backgrounds: the draft breeds come from Amish farms  where they served as draft animals performing field work, while the smaller horses are  the same communities’ retired carriage horses or are former Standardbred racehorses.

Due to their previous use, many enter urban carriage horse companies with  preexisting injuries (lameness, laminitis, arthritis, strained and bowed tendons,) and  illnesses such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, or “heaves”). These  preexisting conditions can have a significant impact on the horses’ well-being,  suitability for, and longevity in their new occupation.

  • Handling

Many carriage horse drivers lack knowledge about horses and have no prior  experience as carriage drivers in hazardous urban environments. It is common to  witness drivers chatting over their shoulders with passengers, rather than focusing on

their horses and the surroundings ahead. It’s also common to see drivers who lack  control of their horses’ heads due to an improper (if any) grip on the reins, and who  may stand in the driver’s box, which is forbidden by expert driving standards and in  competitions.

  • Respiratory Disease

Horses working in traffic with motorized vehicles are constantly nose-to-tailpipe,  whether waiting for their next fare or moving with traffic. They exhibit resultant  respiratory impairment, as detailed in an unpublished study conducted by Dr. Jeffie  Roszel. Dr. Roszel’s study analyzed New York carriage horses’ respiratory health in  1985 when they were still limited to Central Park; they exhibited significant lung tissue  damage and cellular changes due to their exposure to noxious vehicular emission  fumes. For horses with any preexisting respiratory impairment such as COPD, a  polluted urban atmosphere is a significant additional health stressor.

  • Lameness

A lack of soundness is a major problem for horses who pound the city streets’ hard,  concussive surfaces throughout long shifts. Many are not given adequate farrier  (horseshoe) care and since many enter this industry with preexisting injuries or  arthritis, their lack of soundness will only worsen. A horse’s hoof is healthiest when  left unshod and properly trimmed on a regular basis. The excessive pounding on paved  city surfaces makes the use of shoes indispensable, but many carriage horses do not  receive the frequent maintenance needed to keep their feet healthy, especially if their  stall hygiene is inadequate and they develop infections in addition to sole bruising or  cracks in the hoof walls.

  • Heat Prostration

Hyperthermia was once a leading cause of death in urban carriage horses and  currently remains a significant threat in urban environments in many parts of the  country. Horses in harness on hot streets, denied sufficient access to water and time  to cool down, often collapsed on the streets or in their stables. For this reason, equine  experts recommended that horses should be kept off the streets when the combined  temperature-humidity index (THI)—which is the sum of the temperature in degrees  Fahrenheit and the humidity in percentage points—exceeds 140; for as the THI  increases, so does the horses’ heat stress risk. One expert source states that a THI  above 150 represents a serious threat to horses’ health, especially if the humidity  value is more than half of the combined sum.

In the critical temperature range of 89-96 degrees Fahrenheit, a large horse is greatly  challenged in its ability to dissipate body heat into a hot environment, especially if high  humidity is a factor. In a hot environment, a horse can lose 8-10 gallons of fluid with  exercise, but if the air is saturated by high humidity, evaporative cooling cannot occur, and the horse’s core temperature continues to climb. If the horse becomes  dehydrated and cannot produce sweat, life-threatening anhidrosis ensues; keeping a  horse well hydrated on urban streets is a challenge in these modern times with no  public horse troughs.

  • Spooking

The horse is an animal with a highly developed and effective flight drive triggered

when startled by an unexpected or threatening stimulus. Spooking can happen to even  the best trained and well-mannered horses; their evolution as herbivores (prey

animals) has conditioned them to bolt immediately when startled, dictating the need  for carriage drivers to be in constant contact with their horses’ heads. It is unlikely that  novice drivers will be able to fully anticipate potentially threatening stimuli in order to  control the horses before they attempt to flee in panic. The possible result of a horse  spooking while pulling a carriage in congested traffic is a tragic collision between the  horse and the vehicles crossing at the next intersection the panicked horse gallops

through, resulting in both equine and human fatalities. Such accidents are less likely to  occur if horses are restricted to areas with no operating motor vehicles.

  • Stabling

The essential provisions for appropriate stabling for horses, often of draft breed size,  whose daily shifts are spent between the extremely confining shafts of their carriages,  can depend on many variables. However, to ensure a humane existence for the horses,  the stables must include: box stalls (not tie stalls) that are a minimum of ten by ten

feet (twelve-to-fourteen-foot square is better for the draft breeds); constant access to  clean, potable water in each stall; good quality hay and grain secured in rodent- and  moisture-proof containers; bedding that is sufficiently absorbent and deep to provide  comfort to the animal when resting; and proper ventilation and cooling provided by  fans to minimize ammonia fumes from urine.

In addition, each horse should have—and rarely gets—daily turn-out in which he/she  is given a period to relax with a compatible stable mate in a large enclosure where

they can roll, mutually groom one another, lie stretched out, and generally obtain

relief from their arduous shifts and the discomfort of tight-fitting harnesses. In so

doing, they satisfy natural behavioral and physical needs.

Although carriage horse training and driving can be done with due attention to making the  experience both humane and pleasurable for horses in a proper setting, the tourist trade in  contemporary urban settings cannot provide a safe and healthy environment as long as the

horses are threatened by motor vehicle traffic and physically injurious environments. We  therefore support the proposal to ban horse-drawn carriages in the City of Savannah.

Sincerely,

Gloria Dorsey, DVM, MPH

HSVMA Georgia State Representative