Transporting horses on BC Ferries

» jkeigler - Concern about the summer sailing waits for horses on BC Ferries

BC Ferries is changing their regulations about priority boarding for horses.
They want all travellers with horses to book in advance through their "commercial trucks" reservation system.
They say there is no extra cost for reserving, except we found out that BC ferries will be charging us more for "commercial" space instead of the regular rate for length, etc.
Also...we MUSt be there 1/2 hour before sailing and if we're not, then we lose our reserved space and lose $25. Also...our rigs with our horses will have to wait for next available ferry which could take from 2 - 8 hours, depending on how busy the ferries are. This is terrible! Our horses won't be able to get out of the trailers, and will have to stay in them in the blazing sun! We will be forced to wait out the ferry line-up like everyday travellers with kids and dogs. You can take the kids and dogs out of the hot car and go for icecream, but what are we supposed to do with our horses? Isn't this against the Animal Act of Canada? Isn't this considered inhumane?
I can understand that they would like to know how many horses will be crossing, etc. for each sailing, but unforseen things happen on the road when you travel with horses, and it's not always cut and dry when you will arrive somewhere at a specific time. If we're 5 - 10 minutes late, then we might have to wait 2 -3 sailings before we get on. That's too long for horses who can't get out of the trailer. The ferry is the only link that continues the Trans Canada Hwy. There should be a law somewhere that prevents BC Ferries from doing this. We are held prisoner on this island due to the high cost of travelling, and now they want to make things worse by jeopardizing the health and well-being of our equine pets!
What can we do to stop BC Ferries from changing their boarding rules, that are going to take place June 1st, 2005?

-- posted by jkeigler

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