Historic downtown St. Augustine attracts many tourists who flood the streets by foot and by vehicle. During the day, vehicle traffic is bumper to bumper during peak tourist season, causing immense exhaust-filled roads in scorching hot weather. The nightlife is very much the same.

While exploring St. Augustine, you will see horse-drawn carriages strolling the hot paved streets or standing on the side of a busy road waiting for the heartbreaking moment a family walks up requesting a ride. With the sun beating on the backs of horses, they are made to pull a carriage of passengers through heavy traffic, breathing in fumes from vehicles, with only a bucket of water waiting for them afterward. These animals should not have to suffer these extreme conditions to be used as pure entertainment.

St. Augustine offers trolly rides that serve the same purposes as the carriage rides do - to take tourists around the historic town to learn about its history.

Carriage rides are not only antiquated, but it is a form of animal cruelty that should be brought to attention and put to an end. Commerical horse-drawn carriage operations are already banned in Palm Beach, Key West, Pompano Beach, Treasure Island, and Kenneth City, Florida. 
Help add St. Augustine to this list!