The City of Dallas Plans to Vote on a New Ban That Could Put a Local Rancher Out of Business

Government is a necessary evil. It's needed to run our cities, our counties, our states and our country. But at some point, government has to take a step back and realize they can't control a particular issue, a particular event or even a particular type of business. That's when you have these watchdog groups start moseying on in with their crack research saying something is bad and needs to go away. That's what's happening right now in Dallas, Texas and it could put a local rancher out of business.

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Horse-Drawn Carriage Rides

North Star Carriages has been operating in Dallas since the mid-1990s. Their business provides horse-drawn carriage rides through the city. Thousands of visitors, as well as locals, have enjoyed those carriage rides through the years. But a group calling themselves Ban Horse Carriages Worldwide has made a plea to the Dallas City Council to end this service. Their reasoning is that the horses are not well kept and there is a safety issue with the carriages on the streets.

Ordinances Already in Place

Gloria Carbajal and Jodie Wiederkehr are the two representatives of this group that have led Chicago, Salt Lake City and other cities to enact similar bans. Dallas already has ordinances in place where horses can't work in temperatures above 99 degrees, for every eight hours on the clock, they have to have 12 hours of rest and the horses must also go to a veterinarian for a physical every 6 months. North Star Carriages follows all of those ordinances (WFAA).

As of right now, North Star Carriages has not had an opportunity to speak with the city council to find out exactly what the complaint is. There is no time set for a vote on this issue but if a ban is put in place, this could be devastating to North Star Carriages' business.