'It was gut wrenching,' says man who watched calche horse die in Old Montreal

Chris Romanyk, who lives on Saint Jean Street in Old Montreal, heard Charlot dying before he saw the calche horseon Sunday afternoon.

"Even in our apartment, you heard the horse crying," Romanyktold CBCNews. "It was gut-wrenching. It was screaming in pain. It is really hard to actually describe. It was really an upsetting sound."

The incident is the latest dramatic example of why animal rights activists say the horse-drawn carriages, while popular with tourists, must be removed from Montreal's streets, and one that makes the mayor "moredetermined than ever"to ban the industry by 2020.

Romanyksaid he and his girlfriend didn't investigate the sound for the first 30 minutes or so, butshortly after she left for work at around 3 p.m. ET, she texted him.

"She's like, 'Holy crap, there's a really sick horse right in front of our door,'" he said.

Romanyk went outside and sawthe workinghorse was in bad shape. It was shaking, he said, and struggling to breathe.

Hecalled police and the Montreal SPCA to report the incident. The SPCA asked him to take photos and videos. He did just that, sending the footage tothe SPCAand the media.

Though he's not involved withany animal rights groups, he said he felt compelled to do what he could given the seriousness of the situation.

Watch Chris Romanyk's video of the horse struggling to breathe in Montreal Sunday:

Calche horse dies in Old Montreal

6 years ago

Duration 0:30

Warning: Some viewers may find the following video disturbing. The laboured breathing of a horse in Old Montreal can be heard in a video shot by a resident.

"The animal was clearly in significant distress, and they weren't doing anything," saidRomanyk, of the handlers. "It was really disturbing."

It took about twohours for the horse to die, he said.

At first, Romanyk said,the driver didn'tunhitch the horse, although people on the street were asking her to. Another handler showed up, he said, telling people to stop filming.

Soon after the horsedied, he said a truck and trailer belonging to the ownerbacked up to take the horse away, but that was when police intervened. SPCAofficials showed up, he said, and he made sure they had his footage.

It was several more hours well after dark beforethe dead horse was removed.

Romanyksaid he has seenhorses slip and even fall on the cobblestone since he moved into the area, but it was the first time he had seen something so serious.

SPCAsays it is powerless

In a statementMonday, the SPCAconfirmed it did receive a call about the incident. Two SPCAinvestigators were on the scene within a half hour, it says, but the horse was already dead.

Because the SPCA"does not have the power to apply provincial animal welfare legislation to horses," the SPCA officials immediately contacted the Quebec Ministry of Agriculture (MAPAQ), which took charge of the case.

The SPCA said it is "eager to see" Montreal's bylaw, which will prohibit horse-drawn carriages from operating in the city, come into effect onDec. 31, 2019.

"The SPCAhas always been very concerned about the way carriage horses are treated in Montreal," the agency said in a statement.

The Ministry of Agriculture put out a statement Monday afternoon saying that the horse's body is being taken to a government lab for an necropsyto determine the cause of death.

The statement says representatives are also carrying out a field investigation in response toa formal complaintsubmitted to the ministry.

Mayor says incident confirms need to prohibitcalches

MayorValriePlantesays the animal's sudden death confirms ProjetMontral's decision to shut downthecalche industry was the right one.

"It doesn'tmake sense to have calches on the streets of Montreal," Plantetold reporters Monday.

She saidshe is "more determined than ever" to remove them from the city by 2020, the date set in her administration'sanimal control bylaw that was adopted in August.

She added, however, that it is important to give those who work in the industry time tofind new jobs.

Horse's owner says animal was fit to work

The MontrealSPCA is looking into the horse's death, but itsowner, LucDesparoisof Lucky Luc Stables,says it's not unusual for any animal to drop dead.

"Why he died? We don't know,"DesparoistoldCBCMontreal'sDaybreakon Monday. "It's like humans. People die out of the blue without showing any signs."

Charlotwas a "very nice horse" that he bought earlier this year, he said, and all his horses are well maintained by professionals.

He said those professionals care about the animals.

In this case, Charlot's driver was crying as she waited more than two hours for the horse to be removed from the street, said Desparois, blaming the city for thedelay.

A week ago,he said the horse showed some signs of a minor illness butwas thoroughly checked and monitored by a veterinarian to ensure it was healthy enough to work.

"Charlotnever showed us any sign of not feeling OKor of being sick or anything," he said.

There's 'no proof' to support industry ban,Desparoissays

Charlot's owner was unable to say exactly how old the horse was. Charlot was not young, he said, but was still at a reasonable age to pull a calchea job he says the animal enjoyed.

He saidthe industry is not as hard on the animals as opponents claim.

• Calche drivers fight to get back on streets as ban goes into effect

"They have no veterinarian proof no logical proof anywhere that supports that it is too hard on a horse to be pulling a carriage," said Desparois, noting he has 25 years of experience in the industry.

"From my point of view, a horse that has a friend and gets a little exercise, walking like they do in Montreal, there's nothing wrong for their health," he said.