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Less than one week after a NYC carriage horse escaped from his stable and fled down the street, NYCLASS, an organization working to end carriage rides in NYC, displayed a life-size replica of a dead horse at City Hall to call lawmakers’ attention to the dangers of mixing horses with cars in the congested streets of midtown Manhattan.

City Hall in Manhattan (Photo: NYCLASS)

TV journalist Jane Velez-Mitchell attended the protest and posted footage and an interview with Donny Moss, who made the documentary film BLINDERS about NYC’s horse-drawn carriage controversy:

According to large animal veterinarians, horse-drawn carriages cannot be operated humanely or safely in the congested streets of NYC. For example, horses are flight animals, and no amount of regulation can stop them from spooking and bolting down a busy street.

Spotty crashed into a car and die after spooking in NYC (Photo: Catherine Nane)

In addition, the NYC horses have no pasture where they can graze, run, roll and interact physically with other horses, as herd animals do. They are either confined between the shafts of a carriage or kept in small stalls in midtown Manhattan.

Photo: Donny Moss

If you live in NYC, please contact your Council Member

Please sign the two petitions to ban horse-drawn carriages: Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages, NYCLASS

To keep apprised of developments, subscribe to the weekly newsletter of the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages by sending an email to coalition@banhdc.org.

Watch the award-winning documentary film BLINDERS: The Truth Behind the Tradition that exposes the truth behind the tradition of NYC’s infamous horse-drawn carriage trade:

A carriage horse named Freddie, who worked in and around Boston, collapsed and died in the street on Sunday in front of “visibly shaken up onlookers.” His owner, Sally Sutherland of the Bridal Carriage Co., buried Freddie before The Dept. of Agricultural Resources conducted an  investigation. A spokesperson for the state agency said Freddie “could be exhumed” if necessary. Freddie, who died at 30, had been pulling carriages in the Boston area since he was 16. Ms. Sutherland said that his previous owner, an Amish farmer “drove him hard. Real hard.”

Photo: Boston Globe

Sally Sutherland told the Boston Globe, “I wanted my horse buried with the rest of his friends and that is where he is at. . . . I don’t really want to talk about this.” Why couldn’t Ms. Sutherland wait to bury her horse until after the investigation? Would it reveal the use of bute (phenylbutazone), a painkiller used in horses, or expose another condition that led to the sudden death of Freddie? Carriage operators claim to love their horses, but people who love their horses would never subject these prey animals to the inhumane, unsafe and inhospitable conditions of an urban work environment. If you still question the rationale for banning urban horse-drawn carriages, please watch the documentary film BLINDERS and educate others about why this anachronistic industry must go. Also, please send a letter to the Boston Globe to express your opposition to urban carriage horses and to ask for an investigation into the cause of death: letter@globe.com.

Horses who pull carriages in the extreme summer heat of Antalya, Turkey, are painted with carcinogenic oil to cover up work-related injuries, such as harness rubs. The Antalya Bar Association’s animal rights council, which has filed a criminal complaint against the carriage operators, says that the 15 horses pull carriages for up to 14 hours/day before returning to “restricted spaces in poor sanitary conditions.”

DHA Photo

When faced with criticism, horse-drawn carriage drivers assert that they have to take care of their horses because their horses earn them a living. That sounds compelling, but it’s simply not true. With an overpopulation of horses (like dogs and cats), disposing of sick and injured horses and replacing them with healthy ones is far less expensive than providing appropriate medical care in the first place. Carriage horses, like circus elephants and captive dolphins, are not companion animals; they are money-making commodities who are exploited until they can no longer turn a profit for their owners. To learn more about why horse-drawn carriages are inherently inhumane and unsafe so that you can speak out against horse-drawn carriages, please see Blinders.

The NYC Dept. of Consumer Affairs revoked the ­license of Saverio Colarusso, a horse-drawn carriage driver who was arrested in December after police officers saw him working his horse “despite a painful injury to its hind leg.” The horse, Blondie, had a bacterial infection known as thrush, according to the vet who examined her.

Photo credit: Donny Moss

When he was elected NYC Mayor at the end of 2013, Bill de Blasio promised to ban horse-drawn carriages for humane and safety reasons. He made bold statements to the press like, “Watch me do it” and “It’s over.” After five months in office, he not yet taken action. To make matters worse, the Daily News and Teamsters labor union have launched a crusade to keep horse-drawn carriages on the streets. In what has become a very challenging time for the local animal rights community, activists welcome the news that a driver has been held accountable for abusing his horse.

In the past two days, horses have spooked and crashed in Savannah, Santa Barbara and Belgium. Surveillance cameras in Savannah captured a spooked horse running wildly through the streets with passengers in the carriage. See video below. In Santa Barbara, the local paper reports that “two men were injured, one seriously, on Tuesday afternoon. . . For unknown reasons, the horses became scared and bolted, resulting in the driver losing control and the carriage overturning.”

https://youtu.be/yM7GqU-EcVg

No amount of reform or regulation can stop a horse from spooking and bolting, which is one of the many reasons why horse-drawn carriages should not operate in urban areas. To see a list of cities with active campaigns to ban horse-drawn carriages, please visit Horses Without Carriages International.