Online campaign launched to replace coach horses with electric coaches on Princes’ Islands

ISTANBUL

According to the recent campaigns, over 400 horses die in accidents every year. AA Photo

An online campaign has been launched by activists, calling to the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality to replace the coach horses used in the Princes’ Islands with electric coaches.   

Animal rights activists have long been drawing attention to the poor conditions of the horses traditionally used for transportation on the four main inhabited islands off Istanbul.

Many groups have denounced negligence and abuse, particularly in the summer season when the islands become an attraction for locals and tourists alike. According to the recent campaigns, over 400 horses die in accidents every year.

The online campaign stresses that horses are worked until exhaustion under high temperatures and are often ill-treated when they show signs of fatigue. However, also emphasizing that the horse-drawn carriages are seen as the symbol of the islands, it proposed replacing them with electric coaches.

“This could set an example in the world for ending cruelty on animals,” the petition said. Activists also noted the method could help coach drivers to keep their jobs.

Rights activist had already suggested the use of carriages pulled by bicycles or running on solar energy instead of the coach horses.

The horses are also usually kept in restricted and unsanitary places during the summer, while abandoned to their own fate in the high parts of the islands during the winter.

A new protest against the use of horse-drawn carriages will be organized on Büyükada on Aug. 31.