OPEN LETTER TO THE ASPCA by Donny Moss - director of Blinders: The Truth Behind the Tradition

This afternoon, someone forwarded to me an e-mail from the ASPCA's equine vet, Pam Corey. She was defending the ASPCA against all the complaints they have received about not doing a good job concerning the NYC carriage horse issue. NYC has recently been hit with quite a bit of snow and icy conditions and the criticisms were well founded.

But no one hit it quite on the head with such a sense of completeness as Donny Moss, the director of the award winning documentary about the carriage industry, known affectionately as Blinders.

In 2008, his documentary was released. Donny has continued to be a strong advocate for the carriage horses and for ethics in politics.

First off: this is Pam Corey's response to criticism:

Since December 1st, New York City carriage operations have been suspended 12 times by ASPCA agents due to weather issues or cold temperatures (18 degrees in the winter.) The park drives are patrolled to evaluate safety of the surfaces and when icy or >slippery, the horse carriages are sent back to the stables. No horses left their stables today, February 1st, due to the ASPCA's suspension this morning, due to slippery roads. Despite the fact that NYC Parks and NYPD officers, as well as inspectors from the city's department of health and department of consumer affairs must enforce the laws regulating carriage horses,

The ASPCA agents are the only ones that travel to Central Park to examine the road conditions and take the air temperature. Complaints to this department from around the country state that the ASPCA does nothing to protect the horses. Our continued monitoring of the park and response to complaints shows that this is not true.

thank you for your concern about the carriage horses, we share it.

Sincerely,
Pamela Corey DVM
Director of Equine Veterinary Services
Humane Law Enforcement

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REBUTTAL: this is from Donny Moss

Dear Dr. Corey:

In response to your message, perhaps the following reasons explain why people around the country complain to the ASPCA about your handling of the carriage horses:

1. The ASPCA is silent when your voice is needed the most. At the Mayor's public hearing on the carriage operator rate hike bill, Bloomberg stated, "The ASPCA has convinced me that the horses are treated humanely." Why weren't you at that critical hearing in front of the cameras to correct him and to testify in support of a ban? He could have vetoed the bill.

2. The ASPCA did not show up to Council Member Avella's press conference announcing the bill to ban horse-drawn carriages. Why? Because you were absent in the press at that critical moment, NYers were left with the impression that it was just a bunch of animal rights extremists who support of a ban.

3. The ASPCA pulled out all the stops to preserve your oversight of the carriage industry when a bill was being considered to take it away from you. Why don't you put that energy into fighting for a ban?

4. The ASPCA wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars of your donors' contributions on a lobbying firm that you ultimately fired instead of just using your board of directors, your influence in the City, celebrity spokespeople and PR machine to publicly demand a ban.

5. The ASPCA has fostered an environment where carriage operators are comfortable defying your authority and the law. What, if anything, are the consequences for them?

6. The ASPCA allows the industry to state to the press that the ASPCA has never issued a cruelty summons. Could that possibly be true?

7. The ASPCA continues to give the public the impression that you're monitoring the industry and protecting the horses when, in fact, your presence is sporadic at best and your absence is palpable on weekends, when the horses are working the most.

8. The ASPCA has publicly thanked Christine Quinn for pushing two marginal bills through the City Council at the expense of the carriage ban and other meaningful bills.

9. The ASPCA's board member, Cindy Adams, wrote a column in the NY Post in April, 2010 congratulating Speaker Christine Quinn and the ASPCA for the passage of the industry bill that would give the drivers a rate increase but precious little for the horses. Why did the ASPCA not demand a retraction?

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On a final note, why is the ASPCA hosting a party in Palm Beach with Georgina Bloomberg to "celebrate the ASPCA's recent efforts in protecting horses from abuse and neglect" when you have done so little to help and so much to hurt the abused horses in your own backyard?

Donny Moss
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jWz6s6r5f4&sns=em

THE LAW, THE CARRIAGE HORSES AND THE ASPCA – and why we need change

Horses Suffer Greatly in the Heat.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

For the second day in a row, NYC passed the 100 degree mark … 101 degrees Wednesday … 103 Tuesday. The heat wave, which has settled over the east coast, began this past weekend with temperatures climbing into the high 90s. Above average temperatures are expected to continue through the end of the week. This was no secret. Everyone knew.

So what happens to the carriage horses during a heat wave – in NYC and Philadelphia, for example?

In NYC The governing law, which is part of Title 17-Health – NYC Administrative Code states that “carriage horses shall not be worked whenever the air temperature is 90 degrees Fahrenheit or above.” There is no consideration for humidity. The official air temperature is actually taken at the hack line by an ASPCA Humane Law Enforcement officer (HLE) using a special thermometer. It is not from CNN, weather.com or NY1.

However, there are several problems with this law, but the most inhumane is this:

The law allows the drivers to begin work at 10:00 AM, leaving from their stable about ½ hour before. If it is expected to be over 90 degrees on a particular day, the drivers are allowed to work, until it reaches that temperature – probably for only a few hours. When there is no business, the horses just stand on the asphalt wearing metal shoes, under the hot sun where there is no shade. But as soon as it reaches 90, if the HLE officers are at the hack line, the driver is told to take his horse and carriage back to the stables, over scorching hot asphalt, under the blazing sun. The stables are between 1 ½ and 2 ½ miles away. It is a thoroughly unnecessary and debilitating trip that could have been avoided if the ASPCA had not allowed them out in the first place.

The ASPCA has it in their power, as one of the oldest humane societies and as the enforcer of humane laws in New York State, to totally suspend the trade when conditions are dangerous for the horses. Horses can suffer from heat prostration and heat stroke. In 1988, a particularly bad year, three NYC carriage horses succumbed to heat prostration and died, embarrassing NYC and tarnishing the industry. Click here for more information.

Philadelphia suspended their carriage trade both yesterday and today. They did the smart thing. Click here to read the story.

But Not So the ASPCA.

I sent two private e-mails to the head of the Humane Law Division - dated July 4^th and July 5^th - asking the ASPCA to suspend the carriage business during this heat wave. An e-mail from the SVP of Humane Law, not intended for me, was intercepted – i.e. she sent it to me by mistake. She told her minions to ignore me … that I “misconstrue.” How is that for arrogance? They listen to no one and assume that no one knows as much as they do.

My letter pointed out that if the drivers are allowed to go out in the morning, knowing that in only a few hours, the temperature will be above 90 degrees, the horses will need to make that journey back to their stables over scorching asphalt under the blazing sun, hotter than when they first came out. While at the hack line and later walking, they will be standing on asphalt that may be as much as 200 degrees Fahrenheit (as reported in the New York Times 7/28/89) and their micro environment may be 45 degrees higher than the ambient temperature, according to a Cornell study from the mid 1980s. Add that to a lack of shade on the hack line and the horses suffer.

On both days, the ASPCA officers stated that they were out in the park taking the temperature to see if the horses would be allowed out. They had to know it would be blazing hot these two days – but unlike Philadelphia, they allowed the drivers the opportunity to get an hour or two in working. I have been told that the horses did not go out on either day because the temperature reached 90 degrees early … but the possibility was there because they did not suspend it in its entirety.

The driving force behind the ASPCA seems to be to follow the letter of the law – do what is right for the A so the owners will not sue them –not what is right for the horses.

This is what this same SVP said to someone who complained to them:

"We can and are suspending whenever the temperature is above the legal limit. We are also monitoring to help ensure horses aren't out during these periods."

Well how about totally suspending the business for these two days? How about doing what Philadelphia had the foresight to do? How about putting the horses first!

On second thought, the “letter of the law” may not be exactly right. Rather it may instead be that the ASPCA interprets the law in such a way to make it easier for the drivers to work their horses. For example, according to the law, horse-drawn carriages are not allowed to be “driven or operated” in the Times Square area before 11:30 PM from Monday through Saturday and not before 7:00 PM on Sunday. Period. No exceptions. The law is very clear on this. This is the area south of 57^th St., north of 42^nd St., and between 7^th and 9^th Avenue. Click here for the law.

The ASPCA representatives have told me that the drivers are only restricted from going into this area if they are working. But if they have no passengers, it is OK.

WRONG! That is not what the law says. The intent of this law was to keep the carriages out of an extremely congested area until there is less traffic - after 11:30 or 7:00 on Sundays. Times Square does not provide a direct route back to the stable – not by a long shot. Any driver in this area when they are not supposed to be is looking for a passenger.

So why does the ASPCA interpret this law liberally and incorrectly on the side of the industry? Why do they not take a stand and suspend the industry during a brutal heat wave?

Why was the ASPCA not represented at the Mayor’s bill signing of Intro 35, the industry bill, making it appear that they were in favor of this bad bill even though they claimed they weren't?

Why, Why, Why ….. only the shadow knows.

Note: I really would prefer not to criticize the ASPCA publicly, but I am compelled to do so for the horses ... to let New Yorkers know a little about what really goes on. Someone has to speak for these exploited horses. Any organization that has that much misused power must be challenged to do the right thing.

for more information about horses and heat read this article Heat Stress: Too Hot to Trot by Jennifer Nadeau.

Elizabeth Forel

Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages

banhdc.org

UNDERCOVER INVESTIGATION == HORSES GO TO THE DOGS

Hey everyone. Good to be back in the old US of A working the blogs again. I’ve spent the last several months in Europe visiting family in Manchester and my college buddies now living in London and Rome. Great trip. I got to hang out and protest with activists in Rome and saw the carriage horses or Botticelle as they call them there. It’s just as bad as New York City.

Having been home for a while now, I’ve been catching up with what's going down with the carriage horses. I joined the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages and Friends of Animals on December 5th, which is the international day of action for carriage horses around the world. You can even see me in some of the video that was shot. I am in the back, of course.

The Coalition had access to an undercover investigation done by Animals Angels and it is on their web site. West Side Livery stable on W. 38th Street was the main subject of the rally. The pictures shown here were taken at that stable and are from the report.

Since I have been back, I’ve learned that the ASPCA managed to convince the City Council to delete the section from a dangerous bill, Intro 653A, that would have removed the ability of the ASPCA’s agents to do inspections of the stables. Bully for them, but what about the horses?

News gets around through the Internet and while I was in London, I saw a petition about this very topic. The ASPCA was very sure that they would lose their power. They appealed to the world.

This is a section from one of those letters: "ASPCA agents monitor the care and condition of the horses, checking stalls for proper bedding, size and cleanliness. They also check on feed to ensure that a proper amount is on hand and that it is free of vermin, as well as evaluate lighting, ventilation and unsafe conditions at the stables."

I’m here to tell you that THIS IS A LIE and not to believe the ASPCA! The City Council should not have been so quick to let them continue to inspect the stables since they do not do a good job.

However, the whole thing is messed up because while the ASPCA is incompetent, everyone was afraid that the carriage industry would self regulate. This (if you can believe it) would be worse.

Hey... Don't believe what I say. The proof of the ASPCA's incompetence is West Side Livery. It's one of five carriage horse stables in New York City. The conditions in this stable happened on the ASPCA’s watch. It's a hell hole. However, this is also proof of what would happen and be more wide spread if the industry self regulated. It's a classic example of people who really care (us) being caught between a rock and a hard place.

The pictures from the Angels' report show filthy stables and dirty horses with urine and feces stains. It also shows tie stalls that confine a horse like a veal crate with the horses tethered to their feeding trough. In referring to the bad air circulation at the stable, the Angels' report stated that "only a few fans are installed on each floor and one can only imagine the temperatures there during the hot summer months."

The report also mentioned that they found plastic "water" buckets in the stalls that were empty. It went on to state "The stalls had very poor bedding, a thin layer of sawdust only covering parts of the stall so that the horses were forced to stand on the bare floor." The most important part of the report was about fire protection. "Fire protection is another concern with this stable. The horses have to be untied from the feed troughs and evacuated from the upper floors, which would be extremely difficult. In addition, no sprinkler system and no other fire protection devices were observed except some “fire buckets” filled with sand." Fire protection experts say that the steep ramp found in all multistoried stables would act as a chimney if there were a fire, likely killing everything on the upper floors. Having grown up on a farm, I know how timid and fearful horses can be. They would never escape. They would die.

Thank you incompetent ASPCA. Thank you corrupt City Council.

So, why is the ASPCA still allowed to "inspect" these stables? I understand they made a deal (with the devil) to support this terrible bill in exchange for being allowed to keep their inspection powers.

Only in New York, kids. Only in New York. I might just go back to the UK. I've had it with the incompetence, the fraud, the corruption, and the sell outs.

note: photos courtesy of Animals' Angels via Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages web site.