Sanctuary network hoping to prevent slaughter of Montreal calche horses

A one-year City of Montreal moratorium on the horse-drawn calche industry is raising new concerns for the fate of the animals involved.

Some calche operators responded to the unexpected announcement Wednesday with claims the moratorium could force them to send their horses to slaughter.

• Montreal stable owner blindsided by calche moratorium

That's a situation animal welfare advocates are now scrambling to prevent.

Galahad, a Quebec-wide network of 200 horse sanctuaries, says it would have no problem finding temporary or even permanent homes for Montreal's 56 calche horses.

"We are worried about what will happen to the calchehorses at the moment. We're hearing on social media that somedrivers will send their horses to slaughter," saidSuzanne Dulude, vice-president ofGalahad.

Galahad board member Nellie Benoit told CBC Montreal's Homerun Thursday that the organization wants to do "everything to avoid that," andis letting calche operators digest the news before it reaches out to them with options.

"The short-term future of the horses is what concerns us because owning a horse is quite expensive horses are big animals, they need special care, they eat a lot of food, keeping them here in Montreal you would still need to pay taxes and housing fees, etc.," she said.

Galahad, she said, has the means to help with those interim expenses while the moratorium is in place.

Stressful working conditions for horses

While someanimal welfare groups want an outright ban on the calche industry,Benoit said Galahad is not opposed to itin theory.

But there areserious concerns about the way it's currently operating in Montreal that need to be addressed, she said.

Among those concerns is the fact that horses mustendure the stress of downtown traffic and rarely if ever have access to grazing pastures.

"One of the biological needs of a horse is to be able to roam free for a few hours a day and eat grass, but the horses in the calche industry in Montreal don't get access to that," she said.

"They're either working or in standing stalls, so they can never really enjoy greenery."

The moratorium, she said, will give all sides the opportunity to get together in search of commonand hopefully greener ground for the city's calche horses.

"We're happy that [the moratorium] will allow everyone to think about how to make it better over the next year so the calche industry can be healthy for the horses," she said.