The Parliamentary Petition Committee has backed a petition calling for the restoration of horse-drawn carriages to Prague’s Old Town Square and Stromovka.

Last year, Prague councillors approved a change to the market laws that ban horse-drawn carriages beginning this year.

The committee’s 11 members unanimously approved a resolution suggesting that the city council examine the petitioners’ request and provide.

The campaign “A horse is not a machine” states that horses are sensitive to loud noises and run away when they feel at risk. Thus, it is not difficult to understand why a busy capital city can be a stressful and dangerous environment for them.

In addition to the loud noises, exhaust fumes also pose a threat to the animals’ health; that is, they cause significant damage to the horses’ lungs and respiratory systems. Finally, it is crucial to note that while people shield themselves from the scorching heat in the summer, the horses are forced to work. Similarly, they must continue to entertain tourists during the freezing winters.

The petition claims that the carriages weigh between 500 and 550 kilos. They point out that a horse may weigh up to three times its own weight on a flat terrain, and a fully loaded carriage will not weigh more than 1200 kg. “Even if two horses weigh 1400 kilograms together, they are still less than one times their own weight,” the petition adds.

“Among other things, that horses in all cities typically ride for ten hours or more, while in Prague they work for six hours, which he described as a “luxury”.

Committee chairman Tomio Okamura (SPD) said he would welcome a solution that would satisfy the petition’s demands.

Petr Fifka (ODS) described the ban as one of the worst decisions of the municipality. The petition was also supported by Stanislav Berkovec and Renata Oulehlová of the ANO movement.

Eva Kaděrková, the head of the Agriculture Ministry’s animal protection department, said that putting horses in carriages cannot be considered animal cruelty and the State Veterinary Administration has not found any violations of the law in Prague in the last ten years.

The cities where local authorities have ceased to issue commercial tourist-carriage licenses includes London, Paris, Rome and Toronto, while total bans are now in place in Oxford, Barcelona, Montréal, New Delhi, and Tel Aviv.