Dallas horse-drawn carriage ban should hinge on facts, not opinions, experts say

As the debate over horse-drawn carriages in Dallas heats up, some experts say city officials should make sure they have all the facts before banning the industry outright.

Three equine experts spoke with The Dallas Morning News on Wednesday after the paper reported on calls to eliminate carriages from the city. Supporters for the ban say the practice is not safe for horses or streets. Among the supporters is council member Adam Bazaldua, who leads a council committee that will discuss the topic more this spring. No formal proposed ban is yet on the table.

But the issue is already drawing attention, with more than 100 comments weighing in on The News’ original story on the social media website Reddit.

Those opinions are across the board, which is why experts say city officials should look at factual information before making any lasting decisions about horse-drawn carriages.

“It just makes sense to get all the information that you can and have those conversations with those that work closely with large animals rather than just going with a straight ban,” said Keith Kleine, part of the American Association of Equine Practitioners.

Kleine said his Kentucky-based group, which has more than 8,000 veterinarians as members, does not believe horse-drawn carriages should be banned. He said the organization has found “many of these horses actually thrive in urban environments, though there are certain situations where there could be challenges.”

“But the biggest challenge is the changing attitude of human beings regarding the use of animals,” Kleine said. “As we move away from an agrarian society to more urban areas, it’s difficult for people who have not worked with horses to understand the value that animals have and that they enjoy helping.”

Exploitation or valid point?

On Reddit, one commenter lamented about driver safety as the animals are driven on Lemmon Ave., a particularly busy Dallas street, while another opined that utilizing horses in this manner is “exploitation” and “barbaric.”

There is currently only one business permitted to have carriage horses on Dallas streets, though there are others that operate in North Texas.

Jerry Black, executive director of Texas Tech University’s Equestrian Center in Amarillo, said he believes concerns about horse-drawn carriages center more on animal rights rather than the actual well-being of carriage horses.

“My experience is that these horses are extremely well cared for, and the amount of work that they do is not considered significantly heavy work,” said Black, who is the former chairman of the American Horse Council and co-founded a California equine hospital in the early 1970s.

Black said he believes most horse carriage operators are complying with the regulations of the places they are working in.

“Most policies are in place, as far as I know, in every city that has horse-drawn carriages and those animals are very well cared for,” he said. “In my mind, this is not a valid complaint.”

Dr. Tom Hutchins, a veterinarian and owner of North Texas Veterinary Hospital in Weatherford, said the types of horses typically used for pulling carriages can handle the work.

Many operators use draft horses, which he said have traditionally been used in farming and agriculture. He said a single horse pulling a carriage with up to four people on a short route shouldn’t be strenuous for a healthy horse, and he noted that some companies use two horses to pull a carriage.

Access to clean water is key, Hutchins said, particularly as temperatures rise.

“It’s no different on that horse than it is on people,” he said. “The hotter it gets, the harder it is on them.”

When asked if he thought horse-drawn carriages could operate in a humane way, Hutchins said, “absolutely.”

As long as the city and operators work together to minimize traffic disruptions, ensure safe routes for the horses to travel on, and make sure other safety measures are in place and followed, he said he didn’t think the practice needed to end.

“I just think if they’re cognizant of that and everybody works together, I don’t really see that it’s a big issue,” said Hutchins, who noted most companies will steer clear of using horses that are easily distracted or easily spooked.

City Council update likely in April

Dallas’ aviation department oversees the regulation and enforcement of horse-drawn carriages, taxis, limos and other transportation-for-hire businesses in the city. Patrick Carreno, the department’s director, told The News on Dec. 27 that inspectors are proactive in enforcing city rules and estimates his office will update the City Council in April with more information on how the industry is regulated, as well as a plan to get community feedback on a possible ban.

City Council members who are part of the city’s quality of life, arts, and culture committee were first publicly briefed on the topic by Carreno and other aviation department officials during a meeting in December. Bazaldua, who chairs the committee, told The News that the group opted to take up the issue after the council kept hearing concerns from residents about the well-being of carriage horses.

At least one local advocacy group, Ban Horse Carriages Dallas, has been pushing for the city to stop businesses from trotting out the animals for entertainment.

Bazaldua said he supports a full ban, saying he believes horse-drawn carriages are inhumane for the animals and doesn’t make streets safer.

“The reality is that there’s a lot more modernized technology that allows for better alternatives, like electric-style carriages,” Bazaldua told The News on Dec. 27. “So if the attraction itself or the business model is something that would be missed, there are other avenues we can explore to get with the times that we’re in.”

A ban would put Dallas among the largest cities in the country to outlaw the rides, joining Chicago; Salt Lake City; Biloxi, Miss.; and other areas. San Antonio, Philadelphia and New York City are among other cities where officials have recently proposed similar bans.

Carreno told council members during a Dec. 5 quality of life committee meeting that his office knew of no record of any accidents involving North Star Carriage, the only horse carriage business permitted to operate in Dallas.

Naysayers point to cruelty

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is one of the organizations in favor of banning the practice, calling it cruel to the horses.

In an online post opposing horse-drawn carriages, PETA said it’s often up to local animal control officials to protect abused horses due to a lack of federal regulations.

“But anti-cruelty laws provide few safeguards to horses, and many humane agencies just don’t have the resources or the time to monitor horse-drawn carriages on a regular basis,” the post said. “Animals can easily be overworked when profit-driven operators fail to follow regulations.”

PETA cited a list of more than 300 incidents involving horse-drawn carriages the organization says it has compiled in cities across the U.S. and Canada between 1985 and 2023. Dallas appears on the list five times in accidents that PETA’s data shows in total lead to the death of one person, at least one injured horse and 15 other people hurt, including passengers and carriage drivers.

The list appears to be compiled from a mix of sources that include news reports and social media alerts.

In one incident that was reported by The News, a carriage driver in December 1997 suffered broken ribs when she was riding through downtown Dallas one month earlier and her horses were spooked by passing motorcycles, causing them to steer the carriage into a collision with a car. The carriage driver’s dog was riding along with its owner and fled. A passerby later found the greyhound and returned her around two weeks after the crash.