A borough of Montreal has voted to provide half a million dollars in extra funding for its 24 horse-drawn carriages, called caleches. It suggests the money be spent on new waiting areas for the horses, proper training and uniforms for carriage drivers.
In May 2016, Mayor Denis Coderre tried to ban caleches for a year after some animals appeared to have been injured. But the drivers went to court and had the moratorium overturned.
The borough council is studying how the business should be run. The opposition called the new funding an improvisation on the part of the mayor and said the public should have been consulted first.
A Montreal SPCA spokeswomen was horrified by the decision and noted that the SPCA has been asking the city to ban the horse-drawn carriages for years.
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