On July 4, 2007 a carriage horse named Bud spooked on Central Park South and ran into traffic crashing into a cab. His back legs were injured and bloody. The cabby went to the hospital and a motorcyclist was hit by the carriage.
This is the second time in one month that a spooked horse was involved in an accident. On June 2, a horse was hit by an SUV in midtown.
When is our Mayor and City Council going to take this issue seriously - when a human dies?
Other major cities like Paris, London, Toronto and Beijing have banned the carriage horse trade from operating in their cities. And many American cities have followed suit. They all recognized that it is dangerous to both horses and humans alike and inhumane.
Carriage horses do not belong in the traffic congestion of NYC. If you feel the same way, contact your council member and the mayor.
5 comments:
Why isn't anyone taking this seiously--this is crazy!! And what about the ASPCA? Aren't they supposed to be protecting the horses?
This is not just an animal welfare issue, it a huge public safety concern. Plus it affects the environment around Central Park South. Have you been there lately--it smells and is filthy. And it's hard to look at those poor creatures.
Why isn't anyone proposing to get rid of this industry? Why isn't the mayor including this issue in his traffic congestion/environmental initiative? Who is he protecting?
Actually, the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages is flooding the mayor's office with postcards asking him to step into the 21st century and ban the carriages. I live in South Florida and they sent me dozens of cards. Wherever I go, I have them with me. I get people to fill them out and I mail them, a couple at a time. This situation will never be resolved with tiny, faux attempts at "protecting" the horses. This usage of horses needs an outright ban. And you're right, Ted, it's also about the environment and public safety, and the smell, particularly in summer (I'm from NY) is atrocious. Check out the Coalition (www.all-creatures.org/bhdc). There's lots of action you can take and they have great resources.
Not only is this a cruel industry, it's a dangerous one. I think the people who have gotten hurt should sue the pants off the city. ONLY then, when it hits Bloombergs pocketbook, will things change
That Beijing, capitol of China, a country infamous for it's horrific treatment of animals, should deem the carriage horse industry worthy of banishment, illustrates just how New York City degrades itself by allowing the continuation of this unspeakable trade.
That the mayor and city council will not put an end to this civic embarassment and it's attendant cruelties, is unfathomable. Is it acceptable to we New Yorkers, for our four-legged creatures to be treated any less kindly than in other cities of the world? Does it not tarnish our reputation for so-called sophistication?
Yes where is the ASPCA? The same ASPCA whose current administration came to town promising to assume the vanguard in abolishing this abhorrent industry. I wonder: Could the current A leadership look into the reproachful eye, should he return, of stalwart equine defender and ASPCA founder, Henry Bergh, without blushing?
The ASPCA does not know how to audit the horses, the drivers' and owners' improper or even criminal acts against the carriage horses, since they conspire their acts. I am a horse and carriage driver and volunteer to help the ASPCA about how to conduct a proper audit to catch the cruelties to the horses.
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