Excerpted from:
The Hartford Courant
By DANIEL P. JONES
Courant Staff Writer
….”Recently, the state Office of Policy and Management gave Wethersfield a $25,000 grant to provide horse-drawn carriages in the town’s historic district, slated to begin this fall. The project has been billed as a way to accentuate the rich heritage of Connecticut’s “most ancient town.” A more progressive perspective, however, would suggest that buggy rides are an exploitative and dangerous tradition that should be left in the history books.
…To expect horses to serve as vehicles in any traffic is unreasonable. The health and safety dangers inherent in the animal-drawn vehicle business have sparked a growing momentum for bans in many cities across the world, including Key West and Palm Beach, Fla.; Las Vegas, Nev.; Camden, N.J.; Toronto; Beijing; Paris; and London. Even when confined to light or pedestrian traffic, as in the Wethersfield plan, horses and traffic can be a deadly mix.
…There are more enlightened ways to herald and preserve Wethersfield’s heritage than returning to the days when horses were forced to pull people through the streets.”
Priscilla Feral, president of Darien-based Friends of Animals