Chicago bans horse-drawn carriages beginning in 2021

The Chicago City Council banned horse-drawn carriages in the city beginning next year. 

The council passed an ordinance Friday in a 46-4 vote ending the horse-drawn carriages after Dec. 31, The Chicago Tribune reported. 

The city’s existing 10 horse-drawn carriage licenses will expire at the end of the year and will not be renewed, ABC reported. 

Animal rights organization PETA championed the decision. 

“This is a banner day for overworked horses in Chicago, who will no longer be forced to pound the pavement through extreme heat, thunderstorms, or blizzards and who are often deprived of even a drink of water, as the Chicago Alliance for Animals has documented for over three years,” PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement, according to ABC. 

Owner of Chicago Horse and Carriage, Larry Ortega, dismissed that the industry is a form of animal cruelty. 

“Even though there are city, state and federal laws clearly stating what is animal cruelty, there has never been one horse driver or owner arrested operating on the city streets of Chicago,” Ortega had previously said, ABC reported. 

Chicago joins Salt Lake City; Biloxi, Mississippi; Camden, New Jersey and several cities in Florida in banning horse-drawn carriages, according to the Chicago Tribune.