September 2021 Issue

Page 20 September 2021 EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN By Amy Worden The fate of Philadelphia’s last carriage horse company may still be an open question, but the horses appear poised for eviction from their stables. A developer has proposed a mixed-use building on the site of the 76 Carriage Company stables in the Olde Kensington neighbor- hood of Philadelphia. According to Rising Real Estate, which first reported the proposal in March, a 6-story building with 110 residential units and commercial space is planned for 1640-48 N. Hancock, the site of the stable where the carriage horses are housed. A permit to demolish the stable was granted by the city to Harman Duetsch Corp. in June, according to city zoning board records. Animal welfare advocates want to see an end to the carriage horse trade in Philadelphia. But they also are concerned about what will happen to the horses if the carriage company closes or is forced to move. “What will happen to the horses?” asks Janet White, founder of Carriage Horse Free- dom, whose members have been holding twice-monthly protests at Independence National Historic Park this summer. Mike Slocum, president of 76 Carriage Co., which has operated carriage tours of Inde- pendence Park and other historic Philadelphia sites for 40 years, did not respond to an email or phone request for comment. White said she and others are concerned about dangerous conditions the draft horses face on city streets and the health issues that arise from working in high temperatures and pounding the pavement every day, as well as be- ing confined in an urban stable with only a small outside paddock area. “Horse-drawn carriages are inhumane for the horses and dan- gerous for the public,” said White, adding that market research shows younger people are less interested in carriage rides. “As awareness of the problems asso- ciated with horse-drawn carriages is increasing, demand for horse carriage rides is decreasing.” The 76 Carriage website says its horses are given “vacations” on farms in the country for sever- al months a year. But the Humane Society Vet- erinary Medical Association, which has 750 members in Pennsylvania, supports the carriage ban because of the dangerous health and safety conditions it addresses for the horses, as well as concerns for the safety of the general public. “Horse-drawn carriages and motor vehicles should not share the same roadways, as doing so puts the animals and the public at risk,” said the association in a letter to the City Council president. “With their exhaust fumes, hard road surfaces, and busy traffic patterns, cities are simply not humane—as opposed to survivable—environments for carriage horses.” Philadelphia’s Last Carriage Stable May Be Developed (Continued on page 32)