What We Know & What We Think We Know

A close call in Aspen for a 5-year-old girl who was trapped underneath an overturned carriage

Horses spook, and no horse is unspookable. This is patently clear and yet we continue to see disturbing and even gruesome images of accidents involving carriage horses that spooked, even in beautiful places like Aspen, Colo., which is decidedly less frantic a setting than New York City. (Photo credit: Paul Conrad/The Aspen Times)

In the Aspen accident, a car pulled up alongside the horse, causing it to spook, back up, and flail--overturning the carriage and spilling the driver and the family of five onto the sidewalk. The girl was trapped briefly but escaped serious injury. The horse was not injured. (Statistically speaking, this is highly unusual).

Aspen Police Sgt. Bill Linn was quoted as saying that horse-drawn carriages are not vehicles..."they're basically an amusement ride." This statement is not only misguided, but it poses a serious threat to public safety. It also demonstrates a disregard of the cruelty that is inherent in putting a horse into traffic.

A 1500-pound horse that spooks in traffic is a dangerous weapon. Statistically, this accident is unique in that no one was killed. Horses have an innate and finely tuned fight-or-flight instinct. They pose clear danger to themselves as well as public safety when they spook.

Learn more: Read "No Such Thing As an Unspookable Horse (Jan. 1, 2008 post, HorseWatchNYC)

New York residents (5 boroughs): Ask your elected Council Member to support Intro. 658, the bill to ban horse-drawn carriages -- Find Your Council Member Act now!
Call the mayor's office at 311 and voice your support of Intro. 658, the bill to ban horse-drawn carriages.

Non-New Yorkers: Tell the mayor's office that you don't want to visit New York until horse-drawn carriages are banned.
Email the mayor's office
Call the mayor's office at: 212-NEW-YORK (outside NYC)
Write the mayor:
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
City Hall
New York, NY 10007

ASPCA To Provide Water for Horses

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) has agreed to provide water from trucks to New York City's carriage horses, beginning March 10. This is significant, because the water troughs in Central Park are shut off from November to March and the troughs have been empty, except for occasional rubbish tossed into them by passersby.

As New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson's audit found in 2007, the city has simply dropped the ball in assuring even the most rudimentary care of the horses--and that includes assuring that they have adequate drinking water. It is painfully obvious to observers that the horses have no water and that the city has turned a blind eye to the plight of these animals. We can only hope that the drivers do not continue to withhold water out of spitefulness.

Please thank ASPCA President Ed Sayres (212-876-7700, esayres@aspca.org) for his work in coordinating with the drivers and the Parks Department to accomplish this feat.

Historically speaking, the ASPCA has a storied history of helping the horses in just this way. Read a New York Times article from 1906 about the ASPCA's work to help horses.

Water or no water, the ASPCA now supports an outright ban on horse-drawn carriages in New York City, as does the Humane Society of the United States. Improvements are no longer a viable option.

Support Intro. 658, the bill to ban the abusive horse-drawn carriage industry in New York City.

Tragedy in Tennessee

A 39-year-old man was killed in Waynesboro, Tenn., on Sunday when the horse-drawn carriage that he and his teen-age daughter were riding in was struck by a car. His daughter was thrown from the carriage but was not seriously injured. The horse was killed by the impact of the crash.
Read the story as published on TimesDaily.com
Note: This news item is published on the blog as a somber reminder that cars, roadways, and horses do not mix under any circumstances, whether the setting is a scenic highway or a gridlocked cityscape. The dangers are great and risks of tragedy predictable.

How Many Horses Have to Die?

No secret that I have had some fun at the expense of Council Member Jessica Lappin, who I'm told is responding to all constituents who have asked her to support a ban on horse-drawn carriages (Intro. 658/2007). She was endorsed for election in 2005 by the League of Humane Voters-NYC, and the following year she endorsed a humane education program. She also co-sponsored Tony Avella's important pets in housing bill.

I do hold out hope for Jessica Lappin on this matter. Let's face it, the political machinery of the NYC carriage industry is a truly scary thing. If you are new to this issue, trust me when I tell you that many in the carriage industry are abusive to the point that I fear them. However, in 2008 we have to look forward, not backward to the 19th century. The facts are incontrovertible: the horse-drawn carriage industry in New York City is inherently inhumane and cannot be made safer. How many horses have to die?

New York is one of the world's great cities. It is time to ban this inhumane industry.

Why a full ban? Learn more
Sign the petition to ban horse-drawn carriages in NYC

New York residents (5 boroughs): Ask your elected Council Member to support Intro. 658, the bill to ban horse-drawn carriages -- Find Your Council Member This is important! Constituents' opinions matter.

New York residents: Call the mayor's office at 311 and voice your support of Intro. 658

Non-New Yorkers: Tell the mayor's office that you don't want to visit New York until horse-drawn carriages are banned.
Email the mayor's office
Call the mayor's office at: 212-NEW-YORK (outside NYC)
Write the mayor:
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
City Hall
New York, NY 10007

Abusive Industry Deters Tourism

Marcela D. posted a note on the Web site of the Toronto Humane Society upon hearing the news in late 2007 that another NYC carriage horse, Smoothie, had died.

This is it! Another horse suffering a needless and horrifying death. I will never visit New York again until horse-carriages are banned. I urge everyone to call or write the Mayor of New York and tell him he will be losing a lot of tourism dollars because of this.
Marcela D, Sept. 17, 2007, following the death of Smoothie

Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council, please take note: Tourism suffers when visitors see the abuse that is inherent in the horse-drawn carriage industry. Marcela D said it best: She won't travel to New York until the industry is banned. We can no longer turn our heads in the face of animal abuse in the name of profit.

The impact of New York's supporting an abusive industry is devastating, because New York City is a global trend-setter. Conversely, if the city joins the 21st century and enacts a ban--as so many other cities worldwide already have done--the impact would be tremendous.

Attention, non-New Yorkers: Contact Mayor Bloomberg's office and ask for support of a ban. Your opinion matters--and your tourism dollars count.

The voices of voting NYC residents who care about carriage horses are critically important. Please make known your support for Intro. 658, the bill to ban horse-drawn carriages. Your City Council member needs to hear from you. Explain briefly that the industry is inhumane and cannot be improved. Ask your Council Member to co-sponsor Tony Avella's groundbreaking bill to end this 19th-century anachronism. If the City Council does not hear from you, your good intentions will not be enough. Please write today, and call.

What Does the City Audit Say?

The horse-drawn carriage industry in New York City is inherently inhumane and cannot be made safer, chiefly because the horses must travel up to 4 miles a day in heavy traffic to and from their stables. Legislation to ban the industry has been introduced by Tony Avella. (Intro. 658/2007)

The city audit of the horse-drawn carriage industry in 2007 found that the horses have inadequate water, infrequent veterinary care, and must stand in their own waste--in short, a host of problems plague this troubled industry. The inconsistencies extend to record-keeping as well.

From the New York Times article on the Audit of Horse-Drawn Carriages (2007)
Audit language is invariably bland, cautious and inoffensive, but the comptroller’s report says — on the verge of snidely? ­– that “it would seem important for the [Department of Health] veterinarian to carefully review and compare the current information with the information on prior years’ certificates to ensure that horses are not being switched or that one license number is used for several horses.”

If you are new to this issue and weighing the evidence, please try to learn more about why this industry is inherently inhumane and should be banned.

Take a look at these resources:
Comptroller William C. Thompson's audit of the NYC horse-drawn carriage industry
"A litany of problems" found in the carriage industry (Times article, Sept. 6, 2007)
Why a Horse-Drawn Carriage Ban Is Necessary (Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages)
Expert Opinion: Holly Cheever, DVM ("Vet: Carriage Horses Suffering," Feb. 26, 2008, METRO, New York)
"You Can Lead a Horse to Water, If There Is Any" (Elizabeth Forel, Feb. 21, 2008, METRO, New York)

Clearing the Air

New York City carriage horses lead a true nose-to-tailpipe existence, and equine veterinarians have detailed the ways in which this compromises the health of horses. Worse still, the horses get little respite in their stables, where the air quality is also poor.

Poor air quality is common in all horse stables. A full 25% to 80% of stabled horses devleop neutrophilic airway inflammation, a disorder caused by a type of white blood cell that helps kill and digest microorganisms. The average barn or stable has levels of airborne particulates that are "off the chart,"according to Melissa R. Mazan, DVM, a faculty member at the Tufts University School of Medicine and a diplomat of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. "It is difficult to persuade trainers and owners that there might be anything wrong with a barn," she explained. "Hard data can be worth a thousand words."

Learn more about air quality in stables.
Note: Accessing articles on TheHorse.com requires registration, but it's fast and free.

New York's carriage horse stables are dirty places with steep ramps that the horses must climb. The stalls are cramped, and the horses often stand in their own waste--just as they do outside of Central Park. Conditions cannot be made safer for New York carriage horses, who travel to and from their stables every day in city traffic. Please support Intro. 658, a bill to ban horse-drawn carriages.

Examine the evidence. NYC carriage horses don't get enough water and receive only infrequent veterinary care. Read the full city audit of the New York City carriage horse industry.

Urge your Council Member to co-sponsor Intro. 658 in support of a full ban. Respectfully ask for a response.