STABLES, NEGLECT AND ANIMAL CRUELTY
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| West Side Livery Stable - small stall; nasty bedding |
One of the most intriguing subjects concerns the horse stables and their claim that since we have not seen them, we do not know what we are talking about and are not competent to make complaints about them. They suggest that if Mayor-Elect deBlasio sees the stables, he will change his mind about his intention to shut down the trade. They are wrong and definitely delusional.
Stables totally inadequate: It is not necessary to see the interior of
the stables in the flesh to know that
they are totally inadequate: There are
four carriage horse stables in Manhattan
– all between 10th and 12th Avenues on the far
west side – on W. 37th, W.
38th, W. 48th and W. 52nd Streets. They are all multi-storied stables housing
stalls on upper floors. The horses access the stalls by a steep ramp. There is only one means of egress -- in the event of a fire, it would be
virtually impossible for the horses to escape.
The stalls, by law, must only be 60 square feet or 6’ x 10.’ They call these box stalls because of the
configuration – not size. This is less
than half what experts recommend, which is 12’x 12’ or 144 sq. ft. for
standard bred horses about 10000 to 1500 pounds – and 14” x 14” or 196 sq. ft.
for the large draft breeds who can weigh over 2,000 pounds.
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| West Side Livery - typical |
No pasture on which to graze: In addition – the horses have no access to pasture turnout to graze – something
horses need on a daily basis. None
whatsoever. They work a 9 hour
day, and come back to their small
sterile stall where they wait to be taken out the next day - they do this for 7 days, 47 weeks a year. The owners are required to send the horses for five- week
furloughs every year to a “horse stable facility.” But there is no requirement in the law that
these “facilities” be approved by the ASPCA or the Department of Health or that
they meet any standards. As a result,
we have heard complaints that some of the horses return from their furlough
looking worse than when they left. We
have also heard they are kept in stalls and not fed properly. But no one seems to care enough to
investigate this.
The former ASPCA equine veterinarian, Dr. Pamela Corey, is cited in the NY Post on November 2, 2011 as saying "We have observed some horses returning to New York City after furloughs on a farm in worse condition than when they left." This was never investigated.
The former ASPCA equine veterinarian, Dr. Pamela Corey is
cited in the NY Post on November 2,
2011
as saying “We have observed some
horses returning to New York City after furloughs on a farm in worse condition
than when they left.” This was never investigated.
Carriage driver charged with animal cruelty: And now comes a new twist – a carriage driver being called out by a NYPD officer and charged with animal cruelty for allegedly working his horse with a 4-day old injury. The driver, Saverio Colarusso, was seen in Central Park on Wednesday, December 18th by Officer Brian Coll who stopped him when he saw his horse struggling with the weight of the carriage. The NYTimes broke the story on Friday, December 20th.
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| West Side Livery |
Carriage driver charged with animal cruelty: And now comes a new twist – a carriage driver being called out by a NYPD officer and charged with animal cruelty for allegedly working his horse with a 4-day old injury. The driver, Saverio Colarusso, was seen in Central Park on Wednesday, December 18th by Officer Brian Coll who stopped him when he saw his horse struggling with the weight of the carriage. The NYTimes broke the story on Friday, December 20th.
The spokesperson for the trade is (of course) denying that
this is common practice and trying to distance themselves from the diver. But this puts a crimp in their mantra
of “The NYC
carriage horses are well-cared for – as a matter of fact, there has never been
a carriage horse driver cited for mistreatment, cruelty, or abuse of a carriage
horse. “
We have
disagreed vehemently with this statement
because we know that the regulations governing the trade are not
enforced. This driver is finally the
one who slipped through the cracks thanks to a compassion and astute NYPD
officer. We also know it not to be
true because of the many violations published by the Department of Consumer
Affairs.
Drivers are inclined to break the laws when no one is looking – whether overloading their carriage with too many passengers; making illegal u-turns; or ignoring a lame horse. Hiring a platoon of officers to follow the drivers for infractions is as absurd as it would be costly. Police officers are not familiar with the specific laws and generally look the other way – this time it was different and Officer Brian Coll is a true hero.
The ASPCA is giving up humane law enforcement on December 31st. But they were rarely in Central Park so would not have seen something like this.
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| Clinton Park - dismal - certainly not "light & airy" |
Why didn’t the stable hands and other drivers notice something
was wrong? The horse is alleged to
have had a 4-day old injury on his left rear leg causing him to limp.
Why didn’t the customers notice or say anything?
Clean and airy stalls - I don't think so: The cruelty charge and the diagnosis of thrush also calls into question their “clean, light and airy stalls” and the “regular vet and farrier visits.” It is highly probably that Blondie was standing for some time in filthy urine-soaked bedding, which was ignored.
Thrush is easily prevented
by cleaning a horse’s hooves daily – before and after his shift – and keeping
the stall clean and dry. If left untreated, as this horse apparently
was, it can cause lameness. It is a
glaring example of neglect.
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