On February 20, Lviv City Council deputies supported a petition proposing the return of horse-drawn carriages to Lviv’s city center.
The petition was registered on November 19 by Lviv resident Olena Kozyk. In a comment to “Suspilne,” she said: “I’m the mother of a young child, and I would like my child to have the chance to see a horse and take a carriage ride once in a while.”
The initiator proposed setting up a designated parking area for horses and installing informational signs with carriage routes. However, the petition did not specify who would cover the costs of these initiatives in Lviv’s historic center. In her comment to “Suspilne,” she clarified: “All of this could be paid for by the businesses that provide these services.”
The petition gathered 509 signatures (500 signatures are required for consideration at a council session).
For almost six months prior to this, there was a temporary ban on horse-drawn carriages in Lviv’s city center. The ban was introduced after an incident on August 26, 2024, when a horse collapsed in the middle of Lviv while pulling a carriage. Following this incident, UAnimals’ legal team submitted a report to the police regarding animal cruelty, as well as appeals to Lviv City Council and Mayor Andriy Sadovyi, urging restrictions on the carriage business in the city.
This is not the first such incident involving horses in Lviv. In 2019, startled by a loud noise, horses ran a carriage into a bench with people sitting on it. A 15-year-old girl was injured, and the mare, Fauna, broke her legs — she was euthanized. Similar incidents regularly occur in cities where horse-drawn carriages operate. Horses suffer from overheating, ligament and joint injuries, and digestive problems due to this type of work. We’ve written about this issue here.
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