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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.