![\"Harnessed](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0_horse-at-Stephens-Green.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe NSPCA said that Dublin is simply unsuitable and unsafe for horses to be on the streets as they work surrounded by dense pedestrian traffic, cars, buses and more<\/p>\n
17:14, 09 May 2026Updated 17:25, 09 May 2026<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Harnessed horse attached to a traditional carriage a Stephen’s Green in Dublin<\/p>\n
The NSPCA has called for a complete ban on horse-drawn carriages and working horses in cities across Ireland.<\/p>\n
Ms Clare Owens, Political Affairs Officer with the NSPCA said that Dublin<\/a> is simply unsuitable and unsafe for horses<\/a> to be on the streets. The NSPCA is calling for a ban on horse-drawn carriage operations.<\/a><\/p>\n Ms Owens said that Ireland can follow in the footsteps of other modern cities by retiring the practice in the city centre.<\/p>\n Speaking on The Hard Shoulder,<\/a> Ms Owens said that an incident involving a horse on O’Connell Street put both pedestrians and the animal at risk.<\/p>\n \u201cThese concerns are becoming more and more regular\u201d she said. \u201cLast year, a silky horse also broke loose on O’Connell Street and that created a significant public risk.<\/p>\n \u201cIt ran the whole length of O’Connell Street with the cart behind it, and that was also widely shared on social media.<\/p>\n \u201cThere’s a growing recognition internationally that modern urban environments are no longer suitable places for working horses. Dublin city in particular presents serious and unique welfare concerns.<\/p>\n \u201cSome cities including London, Paris, Barcelona and Brussels have already moved away from horse-drawn carriage operations.<\/p>\n “Brussels has actually transitioned to electric carriages as a humane modern alternative. That seems to work very well in that particular city.\u201d<\/p>\n She said that the call to ban working horses is not an attack on traditions or tourism, but that as the understanding of animal welfare has evolved, changes should be made.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t just stay stuck in the past\u201d she said. \u201cJust because an activity was traditional,it does not automatically make it acceptable indefinitely.<\/p>\n \u201cSociety evolves. As society evolves, our understanding of animal welfare evolves with it.”<\/p>\n \u201cWe’re looking at working equids and they’re being asked to work in busy and chaotic traffic environments\u201d she explained. \u201cThey’re surrounded by buses, taxis, Luas<\/a> trams, cyclists, motorbikes, delivery vans and then dense pedestrian traffic.\u201d<\/p>\n Want to see more of the stories you love from Dublin Live? Making us your preferred source on Google<\/a> means you\u2019ll get more of our exclusives, top stories and must-read content straight away. To add Dublin Live as a preferred source, simply click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Join our Dublin Live breaking news service on WhatsApp. Click this link <\/a>to receive your daily dose of Dublin Live content.<\/p>\n We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don\u2019t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you\u2019re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice <\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NSPCA said that Dublin is simply unsuitable and unsafe for horses to be on the streets as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":441196,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[264,16454,61,60,43],"class_list":["post-441195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-animals","tag-dublin-city","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=441195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/441196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=441195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=441195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=441195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}