SAN ANTONIO — For most, the horse-drawn carriages in San Antonio are a normal part of the city’s downtown scene, but an animal rights activist who goes by Lupita says she sees animals being overworked.
“Horses belong on the fields, not streets,” Lupita chanted in the heart of downtown San Antonio.
“I just think lot of people don’t tend to make the connection with animal rights and people don’t view animals as beings that have feelings or pain. People just see animals as beings that we use for transportation, for food and things like that,” Lupita said.
Lupita has consistently gone to downtown San Antonio urging people to sign her petition to ban the horse carriages.
“An ex-employee of the horse carriage companies had reached out to us whenever we did our last protest and she did send us some images on our website BeTheChangeTexas.com,” Lupita said.
The City of San Antonio told Spectrum News 1 that it regulates the horse carriages through San Antonio PD’s ground transportation unit and Animal Care Services (SAACS.)
“By law, horse carriages are not allowed to operate downtown when the temperatures rises above 95 degrees or more,” the statement reads. “Permit inspections are conducted regularly which include on-site equine assessments.”
On a recent weekday Lupita took the streets with some other protesters.
“Do you support animal cruelty?” Lupita asked the horse carriage operators.
Marcos Oranles has been a carriage operator for nearly half a year and has dealt with horses his whole life because he grew up on a ranch. Ornales disagrees when hears protesters say what he is doing is animal cruelty.
“We are all partners with our own horses, so like as soon as we get in, the first thing that we get to is feeding them, making sure that they are OK, making sure that they don’t have anything called coggin,” Oranles says.
Oranles says that horses are intelligent creatures and that at the end of the day he and his horse know that they have a special bond.
“If you are going to come out and protest, at least educate and ask somebody that knows about horses, that studies horses their whole lives,” Oranles said.
“They go from the streets straight to a cement storage, they don’t sit on pasture,” Lupita told some horse riders.
While some folks challenged her protest and petition, others agreed with it.
“We are horse people, they are malnourished and are unbelievably underweight,” a gentleman told Lupita.
Lupita received more signatures than she thought she ever would, which means she’s one step closer to presenting this to the City of San Antonio.
“Definitely opened my eyes more on this. Horse carriages are an issue. Not just with the traffic, you know? These horses deserve better,” Lupita said.