The issue in Downtown Wilmington, NC is the use of carriage horses. It is unfair to the horse and the value of their lives as sentient beings. I moved to Wilmington, NC in September of this year and seeing the way these horses are treated has been traumatic for me and my roommate, and we are hoping we can do more!

Horses should not be made to cart people around on the cobblestone and concrete to see the historic Wilmington. There are other ways to take a tour and see the sights. 

Horses are meant to walk on grassy pastures so the prolonged standing and walking on hard pavement is deteriorating for their hooves. Hooves can splinter and possibly even become infected. The concrete is also very slippery for the horse hooves so proper traction is difficult. The hard ground can also be hard on their joints as well causing pain in limbs.

Overall, this is an issue we should all be more aware of. Educate ourselves and stop supporting these horse drawn carriage rides downtown! We may be a historic town but we don’t have to take a historic route to sight see.

Thanks for reading and please sign our petition to end this in our beautiful town and help these horses, as their lives have importance and meaning. We are hoping this gets enough traction to inevitably call attention from the local government and their officials.