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.

Research demonstrating the advanced intelligence of cetaceans (dolphins and whales) has triggered the National Aquarium in Baltimore to question the ethics of keeping its eight bottlenose dolphins in tanks and to consider moving them to a sanctuary in a warmer climate.

Dolphin bite at SeaWorld in Orlando, Nov 2013

A lawyer for PETA says it best: “Captivity can’t even begin to replicate the natural environment. Zoos and aquariums claim to promote education. The only thing they teach is, it’s OK to have these animals locked up in these enclosures where they are bored, lonely and deprived of all control of their own lives.” If people want to see wild animals, then they can watch nature shows that document them living in their natural settings or even view them in their natural habitat, if that’s an option. To see how you can help free captive dolphins, please see The Cove’s Take Action page.

As a stockholder in Groupon and Amazon, PETA has employed “shareholder activism” to pressure these and other companies to “stop promoting companies [like circuses and zoos] that abuse and neglect animals” While Groupon has rejected these efforts, describing itself as “content neutral,” Amazon is remaining flexible. In response to accusations of “bullying” by the right-wing National Center for Public Policy Research, PETA says that it is merely pressuring Groupon to “stick to its own policy of not promoting animal exhibitors that have violated the Animal Welfare Act in the past two years.” PETA has filed a Federal Trade Commission complaint, claiming that Groupon is lying to its customers.”

Photo Credit: Jose M. Osorio, Chicago Tribune

Animals used in circuses, like elephants and big cats, are deprived of the chance to do anything that comes naturally to them and are beaten into submission in order to perform. In addition, they are forced to travel in small boxcars on trains for days at a time traveling between cities. By buying small amounts of stock in companies like Groupon that partner with circuses, PETA can use its seat at the table to expose the cruelty and attempt to end the partnerships. If you’re not in a position to buy stock and cause a stir at shareholder meetings, then join your local animal rights group(s) to protest the circus when it comes to your town. To learn more about animal cruelty in circuses, please visit PETA’s circus webite, Ringling Beats Animals.

The NY Times reports that animal law professor Steven Wise and the Nonhuman Rights Project (Nh.R.P) have filed a lawsuit on behalf of a captive chimpanzee named Tommy, who is “the first nonhuman primate to ever sue a human captor in an attempt to gain his own freedom.” The Nh.R.P. plans to file similar lawsuits on behalf other great apes, dolphins, orcas, belugas, elephants and African gray parrots, all of whom have sophisticated cognitive abilities.

Chimps were chosen first because sanctuaries are prepared to take them if they win their freedom in court and because of the availability of research on their cognitive abilities: Advanced neurological and genetic research has shown that animals like chimpanzees, orcas and elephants possess self-awareness, self-determination and a sense of both the past and future. They have their own distinct languages, complex social interactions and tool use. They grieve and empathize and pass knowledge from one generation to the next. The very same attributes, in other words, that we once believed distinguished us from other animals.”

Imprisoning animals in zoos, labs, aquariums or any other captive setting is cruel. Imagine the frustration, stress, anxiety and depression experienced by orcas at Sea World; circus elephants on trains; and chimps in small cages in university basements! Please learn about and support the ground-breaking legal work of the Nonhuman Rights Project to free animals from captivity.

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.