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NYC law prohibits horse-drawn carriage drivers from working their horses in snow, ice, heavy rain or other slippery conditions. But that didn’t stop them from working a horse at a St. Patrick’s Day Parade during a snowstorm.

Horse-drawn carriage drivers break the law by working during a snowstorm

TheirTurn told several police officers who lined the parade route that the carriages drivers were breaking the law, but none of them took action.

NYPD officers watch from the sidelines as horse-drawn carriage drivers break the law

The presence of two marching bands also didn’t keep the carriage operators away, even though the city’s horse-drawn carriage operator’s manual includes marching bands on the list of stimuli that spook horses.

Marching bands and horses don’t mix well because drums can spook them

List of stimuli that spook horses in NYC Dept. of Health’s horse-drawn carriage training manual

In fact, it was a drum that spooked a NYC carriage horse named Smoothie, who bolted down 59th street, crashed into a tree and died in front of dozens of onlookers.

Smoothie crashed into a tree and died after being spooked by a drum in Midtown Manhattan

The carriage operators were very much aware of the risk, which explains why they held the reins.

Carriage drivers hold the reins to prevent horse from bolting if drums spook him

As carriage operators illegally worked a horse in a parade in Queens, several others were breaking the law on the snowy streets of Manhattan.

Carriage drivers work during snowstorm in defiance of the law (photo: Bronx resident)

Animal rights activists with NYCLASS, PETA and Long Island Orchestrating for Nature (LION) also participated in the parade, bringing animal costumes instead of a living animal.

Council Member Danny Dromm (center) is lead sponsor on bill to ban horse-drawn carriages

The carriage drivers thanked the village of Sunnyside, Queens, by leaving behind a pile of horse manure on main street. Not to worry, NYC tax dollars will pay for the clean up.

New Yorkers are fined if they don’t pick up after their dogs, but carriage drivers get a free pass

1. If you live in NYC, please ask your City Council Member to support the bill to ban horse-drawn carriages (Intro 573). If you live elsewhere, please sign their petition.

2. To learn more about the issue and keep apprised of news, subscribe to the weekly newsletter of the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages.

3. Watch the award-winning documentary film BLINDERS to see why people have been fighting for years to take the horses out of NYC:

“You’re scaring my child,” said one mother as she passed activists with posters showing abused elephants. She attempted to cover her son’s eyes and ears to protect him from the images and chants, but she only had two hands.

Another mother gave the finger to an activist who showed her an actual bullhook, the weapon used to beat elephants into submission or, as Ringling describes it, an “accepted elephant husbandry tool.”

Braving the elements on behalf of the elephants (photo: Miriam Lucille)

Children look at the images; parents look the other way (photos: Miriam Lucille)

One ultra-Orthodox Jewish woman with seven young children appeared stunned when an activist said, “The Torah prohibits Jews from causing Tza’ar Ba’alei Chayim (unnecessary physical or psychological pain to any living creature). With a guilty look, she said she “didn’t know” when told that baby elephants are “kidnapped from their mothers” in the circus.

Such were the interactions between protesters and customers during opening night of Ringling Bros. Circus in New York City. Jane Velez-Mitchell of JaneUnchained was there to report.

If one state lawmaker has his way, elephant performances will banned in New York. In January, Senator Brad Hoylman introduced a bill to prohibit the use of whips, bullhooks and chains on elephants. Without these weapons, Ringling cannot control the elephants, making it impossible to force them to perform.

Bullhooks are weapons used to force animals to perform tricks (photo: Miriam Lucille)

New York would not be the first place to ban circus elephants. In October 2013, the Los Angeles Times reported that “the City Council asked the city attorney’s office to prepare an ordinance outlawing the use of the bullhook. Baseball bats, ax handles, pitchforks and other implements used on the pachyderms would also be banned.” The ordinance takes effect in 2017. In December 2014, lawmakers in Oakland, California, voted to ban the use of bull hooks, and that law also takes effect in 2017. Elephant acts in circuses are already banned in Mexico, Bolivia, Peru, Slovenia, Cyprus, Greece, Paraguay, Columbia, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Elephants perform tricks to avoid punishment.

Elephants are stored in boxcars when traveling between cities (Photo: PETA)

Elephants are among the most intelligent and social animals on the planet. In the wild, they live in herds, raise their children and travel long distances. In captivity, they are deprived of the chance to do anything that comes naturally to them; they live in constant fear; and are stored in cramped boxcars for days at a time while traveling between cities. They are also beaten into submission, as has been documented many times during undercover investigations conducted by animal rights organizations.

Please visit One Green Planet to learn five ways you can help end the use of animals in circuses.

Video obtained by PETA of NIH researchers conducting maternal deprivation and other psychological studies on infant monkeys revealed such extreme abuse and terror that four members of Congress sent a strongly-worded letter to the NIH demanding an explanation.

Among the many heart-breaking video clips are a babies frantically attempting to awaken their sedated mothers, who appeared to be dead, and infant monkeys being subjected to loud noises while being held in the dark in what the researchers themselves describe as “pits of despair,” cages so small that the terrified monkeys cannot stand up.

NIH researchers terrorize infant monkeys in psychological experiments

In a fascinating interview with Justin Goodman, PETA’s Director of Laboratory Investigations, Jane Velez Mitchell shines a spotlight on the studies and the deception that has enabled NIH researchers to spend tens of millions of U.S. tax dollars on these experiments for over 30 years.

These infant monkey studies are funded through 2017, but circumstances have emerged which could bring them to an end before the money runs out. First, the NIH researchers will be unable to justify to Congress the continuation of this research, which after 30 years, haven’t yielded any information useful to human mental health. In fact, the researchers have already acknowledged that the tests are irrelevant to humans. As PETA’s Justin Goodman explains, the scientists have created a “cottage industry,” collecting millions of dollars from Congress year-after-year while remaining under the public radar. Secondly, video of the experiments, which are now in the public domain in spite of NIH’s efforts to keep them confidential, has triggered over 160,000 to take action.

Infant monkey attempts to awaken her mother during maternal deprivation study.

The NIH researchers who have taken tens of millions of U.S. tax dollars over the past 30 years to perform these useless and cruel experiments are being exposed for what they are — thieves and terrorists. Please speak up for these infant monkeys by demanding that NIH permanently discontinue these barbaric experiments.

In a major victory for animals, the U.S. military will stop using live animals for various military training purposes as of January 1st. The new policy, which was instituted as a result of many years of advocacy by PETA and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), will eliminate some of the worst abuses, from cutting apart pigs to forcing tubes down live the throats of live cats and ferrets as a component of pediatric training. Wherever possible, lifelike human simulators will be used.

Human simulator

Jane Velez-Mitchell of Jane Unchained interviews Justin Goodman, PETA’s Director of Laboratory Investigations, to learn more about the victory.

According to Mr. Goodman, “institutional inertia” and resistance to change in the military make this astonishing victory truly historic. But much change is still needed, as the government continues to use live animals to replicate battlefield trauma. While this has been reduced in recent years, PCRM estimated several years ago that the military shoots, blows up and dismembers at least 8,500 live goats, pigs and other animals each year in these training exercises.

On the bright side, the U.S. Secretary of Defense wrote in a letter to PETA that the Pentagon will work to identify ways to phase out this testing too. If the will is there, then that shouldn’t be too big a challenge, as studies show that those who learn trauma treatment on human simulators are better equipped to treat injured patients than those who are trained on live animals.

Studies show lifelike human simulators are more useful than live animals in trauma training

The use of any animals in military training begs the question as to why they have to pay the price for human warfare. If countries choose to attack each other, an activity unique to humans, then what right do we have to bring animals into it?

Please use PETA’s email action alert to ask U.S. Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security officials to replace animals in military trauma training with superior non-animal training methods.

After an eight year campaign on the streets, at City Hall and on the big screen, activists in NYC are one giant step closer to achieving their goal of ending horse-drawn carriage rides in the congested streets of midtown Manhattan.

On the week of December 8th, Mayor Bill de Blasio is expected to introduce a bill that would prohibit the city from renewing horse-drawn carriage licenses starting in mid-2016 and prevent the horses from being slaughtered. The bill also offers several job saving provisions, including free green taxi medallions (value: $6,000) for horse-drawn carriage drivers. The bill won’t be put up for a vote for several months to allow for a public hearing and lobbying by both sides.

In 2006, a veteran animal rights activist in NYC, Elizabeth Forel, founded the Coaliton to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages. The group’s relentless efforts led to a change in the public discourse, with New Yorkers and elected officials talking for the first time about about banning, instead of reforming, the trade.

Coalition to Ban Horse Drawn Carriages Protest (photo: Donny Moss)

In 2008, another animal rights group, NY-CLASS, which has been lobbying NYC lawmakers for the past several years in support of a horse-drawn carriage ban, proposed an alternative to the carriages – electric vintage cars – to address objections by lawmakers that a ban would eliminate jobs. The Mayor’s bill would allow carriage drivers to pursue this alternative, if they are interested.

Music legend Chrissie Hynde introduces NYC Media to electric vintage car proposed by NY-CLASS

Over the years, the animal rights group PETA has raised awareness of the plight of NYC’s carriage horses through provocative campaigns, celebrity spokespeople and protests.

PETA billboard in Times Square

In 2008 and 2009, the documentary film BLINDERS about NYC’s horse-drawn carriage controversy aired on the Documentary Channel and was screened at film festivals around the country, exposing an unsuspecting public to the truth behind the tradition of NYC’s horse-drawn carriage trade.

After being educated about the issue, Mayor de Blasio made a campaign promise to ban “inhumane” and “unsafe” horse-drawn carriages from NYC streets during the 2014 Mayoral race.

The front-runner in the Mayoral race, Christine Quinn, blocked efforts to help the horses and instead passed a rate hike for the drivers when she ran the NYC Council. Because of her egregious record on animal protection issues, local activists launched a four year campaign starting in 2009 to cripple her Mayoral bid. She came in a distant third, demonstrating the potential impact of grass-roots animal rights advocacy.

“Anybody But Quinn” for Mayor of NYC

Horse drawn carriage rides have been curbed or outright eliminated in many urban areas around the world, including London, Paris, Beijing and Toronto. Just one week ago, Salt Lake City lawmakers voted unanimously to be ban horse-drawn carriages.

If you live in NYC, please join NY-CLASS in its efforts to rally support at City Hall for the Mayor’s bill to ban horse-drawn carriages. If you live elsewhere, please sign their petition to ban horse-drawn carriages from the streets of midtown Manhattan.

To learn more about the issue and keep apprised of news related to the movement to ban the industry, please 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.