Expert Opinion: Holly Cheever, DVM (2008)

Read a letter from Holly Cheever, DVM, as published in Metro (New York)

To the Editor:
As an equine veterinarian who has inspected New
York City's carriage horses since 1988 and has also
advised 15 other municipalities and states on how to
create humane carriage horse operations, I am
ashamed to say that New York's version of its
horse-drawn tourist attraction is by far the worst in
terms of the number of unexplained deaths and the grim
conditions under which the horses live and work.
The current regulations fail to protect these horse
in their stables and on the streets. They are dying in
unacceptable numbers and at very young ages, though
the public is never made aware of this fact.
Currently, the best that can be said of New York's
operating conditions is that they may be
survivable--barely--but they are never humane. Please
urge the City Council to vote for a permanent ban on
horse-drawn carriages, and eliminate this cruel 19th
century anachronism from our 21st century setting.

Holly Cheever, DVM
Voorneesville, NY
February 26, 2008

Holly Cheever is an equine veterinarian, educated at Harvard University and the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University. She has a lifetime of experience in horse management, including the driving of carriage horses. Since 1988, she has been the primary equine adviser for 15 other municipalities and states (including New York) that have sought knowledgeable assistance either to ban carriage horses from operating in their cities or to devise protective codes and legislation to prevent the all-too-common animal abuse that occurs in this industry.