Are horse-drawn carriages inhumane?

In New York this week a law to ban horse-drawn carriages from carrying tourists around the city, moved a step closer. After 160 years the Mayor there, Bill de Blasio, has decided they are inhumane.

Nicolas De Brauwere, Head of Welfare, Rehabilitation and Education at Redwings Horse Sanctuary, does not think so.

'Working horses are a form of engine which have been replaced by the modern petrol engine', he said.

'There's no evidence that it is incompatible with welfare, it's really about how far we push it and what we ask them to do is more important', said De Brauwere.

'If they are pulling a carriage which is too heavy and overloaded, it would be inhumane' .

Dr Hilda Kean, a public and cultural historian of animals said: 'We don't see horses and cattle through the streets anymore, but we have animals working for us in the home, giving us comfort and affection, a different type of work'.