End Animal-Drawn Tourist Carriages in Nashville

Nashville has evolved. It’s time for this practice to evolve with it.

We are calling on the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County to phase out the commercial use of animals to pull tourist carriages in Nashville.

This issue is bigger than the temperature outside on any particular day.

It is bigger than any single operator, incident, or animal.

The question is much simpler:

In a modern city with countless transportation and entertainment alternatives, should animals still be required to pull people through downtown for entertainment?

We believe the answer is absolutely not.

Animal-drawn carriages are a remnant of another era. Today, Nashville has the opportunity to preserve the sightseeing experience without preserving an antiquated practice that depends upon animals doing the work.

This campaign is not asking Metro to determine whether 80 degrees, 90 degrees, or 95 degrees is an acceptable temperature for an animal to pull tourists.

We are asking why the animal should have to pull them at all.

Tourists have countless ways to experience Nashville. Carriage operators can be given a reasonable opportunity to transition toward electric, motorized, or other non-animal alternatives.

The experience can remain.

The animals don’t need to be part of it.

We are asking Metro Nashville to:

1. Phase out commercial animal-drawn tourist carriage operations in Nashville.

Establish a clear date after which animals may no longer be commercially used to pull passengers for sightseeing or entertainment.

2. Stop expanding the practice.

During the transition, Metro should consider restrictions on new animal-drawn carriage businesses, permits, or expansion of existing operations.

3. Provide existing operators with a reasonable transition period.

Give affected businesses an opportunity to transition toward electric, motorized, or other non-animal sightseeing experiences.

4. Protect the animals while that transition occurs.

Existing animal-welfare regulations should continue to be fully enforced during any phaseout period.

This isn’t about attacking individual carriage drivers or businesses.

It is about deciding what kind of tourism belongs in Nashville’s future.

Our city has retired countless practices because society changed, technology improved, and our standards evolved.

We believe this should be one of them.

There is no shortage of ways to experience downtown Nashville without requiring an animal to pull us through it.

The carriage can remain part of history.

The animals shouldn’t have to remain part of the attraction.

Please sign this petition asking Metro Nashville and the Metropolitan Council to end commercial animal-drawn tourist carriage operations in Nashville.