BEWARE: THE MEDIA IS MANAGING THE CARRIAGE HORSE ISSUE IN NYC

BEWARE:  THE MEDIA IS MANAGING THE CARRIAGE HORSE ISSUE IN NYC - DON'T FALL FOR IT. 

Roger retires:  In the last week,  the Daily News,  a right wing bastion of support for the carriage trade,  has run several stories about Roger – a carriage horse owned by driver Ian McKeever.  At 21, Roger is finally being retired after 17 years in the business.  According to the News, he is going to a farm in Syosset, Long Island.    They recently published this letter from “Roger”to Mayor deBlasio.      

I'm very glad for Roger but I do wonder about him being in this business since the age of 4. 

Romantic?  NO  - Dangerous?  YES

Many experts would say that was too young and he was not fully grown at 4 years.    - especially for a draft horse to begin in this kind of business.   

Yes, it makes a good story to say he was rescued from slaughter.  But to work for 17 years?  Come on.   Roger was the same as all the other horses – he worked 9 hours a day, 7 days a week only to come home to his stall and not have any access to pasture to graze and socialize with other horses; to mutually groom each other to relieve stress from a long day’s work. His "exercise" consisted of pulling tourists around Central Park and dodging cars in traffic. But a good amount of the time he was standing at the hack line waiting and waiting and waiting for customers -- not even free to scratch an itch.  This is neither "exercise" nor humane. 

I hope he can adjust to his new life.  He certainly deserves it.  And I also hope he is not

Roger

worked and made to pull anything.   At 21, Roger is considered to be “old" and should have been retired several years ago.    

Roger has brought good attention to this abusive and exploitative industry and in the hands of the supportive Daily News, a tabloid that cannot separate fact from opinion, it seems to be working. 
 

But this is not the whole story – far from it.  
Corporate Welfare:  In 2001, the City of New York leased a stable on W. 45^th St. to Ian McKeever and his partner. - -charging him a subsidized rent of only $5,000 a month for a stable that could easily have brought the City $60,000 a month.   This is all according to Mr. McKeever as reported in the NY Times when the City decided to sell the property to a real estate developer in 2010.    In 2001, the City also paid for outfitting the stables to the tune of about $500,000.  This happened under Mayor Bloomberg’s administration.  

In other words, the City had been subsidizing a private business to the tune of almost $1,000,000 (including the fit out) over this period of time. 

Is this right?  How many other private businesses do you know of that were subsidized like this?  If someone does not have the capital to make a go of it in a business, they either borrow with the intent to pay back with interest or they do not move forward.  That is capitalism.  But to be subsidized – on the tax payer’s dime?!

There is something very wrong with this picture and the media is not reporting on it.  Instead they continue to try to manipulate the facts and choose the ones to present to you.  Don’t fall for it.

The carriage driver/owners as a whole are conservative in their politics, which means they do not like government interference or control.  But what about corporate welfare?  Is that supposed to be OK.?

But that’s just money and business.  There is something worse going on. 

Missing Horses?:  At that time, the NY Times listed the names of the horses owned by Mr. McKeever who were being sent to a “farm."  Molly, Chestnut, Max, Patty, Jeter and Bosco.   But  as of January 2014, only Molly is still on the Department of Health list of horses. 

What happened to the others?  Did Mr. McKeever bring them to auction?  Or did he find good placement for them as he did for the popular and photogenic TV star, Roger?  At the time, the ASPCA offered to help him with placement for the horses but he refused. 

Perhaps he would like to tell the public what happened to these horses. 

The City of NY does not keep records of horses sold outside the city. 

Bobby II Freedom

Big turnover of horses in business:  Last spring I released a report that showed a turnover of 529 carriage horses in the NYC business over a period of 7 ½ years – averaging about 71 horses a year.  Where did they all go?   This was a very well documented report, yet the media was not interested in covering it. 

So the public continues to assume -- because the media said so --  that the horses remain the same from year to year and when a ban occurs, they will all go to slaughter.

Were these horses too unattractive; too slow; too jittery, too weak; did they have health problems?  Were they nervous in traffic?  Some of them lasted several years in the business so this is not a case of trying the horse for a month and then deciding that he or she did not work out.    I recall a horse named Beauty associated with West Side Livery stable.  Tape was added to his blinders to prevent him from having any peripheral vision because he was so nervous.  He is no longer in the business and there is no record of where he went.     

Bobby II Freedom - I do know what happened to one of those horses - Bobby II Freedom.  In June 2010, I became aware of a NYC carriage horse at the New Holland kill auctions in Pennsylvania.  Joining forces with Equine Advocates, Bobby was rescued and is now living the good life at their sanctuary in upstate New York.  Bobby had been dumped by his owners from West Side Livery stable who wanted to replace him for a newer model.   This is Bobby's story.  

The public deserves to know the truth about the business and the media is not telling them.  

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WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE HORSES?

"What will happen to the horses if there is a ban? Won't they go to slaughter?"

This very real concern has been addressed many times in our newsletter Horse Sense, our web site http://www.banhdc.org/,   in an article I wrote for One Green Planet, in the original Avella New York City Council bill that we helped draft and the current Avella/Rosenthal bill in the New York State legislature that would ban horse-drawn carriages in NYC.   

photo by Mary Culpepper

This is the most common question we have been asked since the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages began the campaign to ban the New York City carriage trade in 2006.  

Yet, we still get these questions.

HORSES ARE NOT A BILLBOARD: The question appears to be a knee-jerk reaction to scare tactics put out by the carriage trade  mixed with a genuine concern for the horses. People seem to make the assumption that the horse population they see in Central Park or on the streets of NYC is stagnant - like a billboard - never changing; that if there is a ban all the horses will go to slaughter. But the reality is that there is a huge turnover of horses in the business now – something that has been determined from analyzing Department of Health horse lists since 2005.

In one year, the average turnover is between 60 and 70 horses. This means that this number of horses were listed in the Department of Health horse registry for a particular year and not listed the following year. Where did all of these horses go?

THE REAL HIDDEN PROBLEM: Horses sold outside of NYC (most are) currently have no protection under the law. Records are not required to be sent to the Department of Health so it is not known where the horses end up. It is very possible many are brought to auction since that is the easiest and fastest way to recoup the cost of the horse and purchase a new one. Kill buyers frequent auctions such as New Holland in Pennsylvania, which is only a few hours from NYC.

The question people should be asking is - What is happening to the horses NOW?. -- Not what will happen to the horses if there is a ban. The fate of all of those horses currently lies in the hands of the owners.

A ban seems unlikely under the present administration of Bloomberg/Quinn. In an attempt to address this problem and make the owners accountable for their horses, the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages requested that a new bill be introduced into the City Council in September 2011 that would address the humane disposition of carriage horses. Sponsored by Council Member Melissa Mark Viverito, a press conference was scheduled for September 20th at noon to talk about this bill - Intro 670. The night before I received a call from Viverito’s office telling me that it was canceled by Speaker Christine Quinn.  
Viverito excused it by saying that she needed to concentrate on the electric car bill, which continues to go nowhere fast. I suspect that Quinn shut down the press conference because she did not want me using the “S” word – "SLAUGHTER"  and Viverito went along with her decision. What better way to kill a bill than to have its prime sponsor refuse to support it. This was shameful! Horse slaughter is a very real problem in the United States. In 2011, 133, 241 US horses were slaughtered.   

The carriage owners ply their trade on the streets of NYC, one of the great tourist cities of the world. In exchange for this opportunity, they must obey the laws governing this business. But the laws are inadequate and need to be extended to protect their horses – the ones they use up at the rate of 60-70 a year. They say the horses are privately owned and the government does not have the right to dictate how to “dispose” of them. Sorry guys - but you are too late with this argument. The law already addresses this issue - although inadequately - by requiring that the horses be disposed of in a “humane manner.” We are simply expanding on this requirement. Besides, taking a horse to auction frequented by kill buyers is not humane. Our bill - and the language in the current State bill – elaborates on this by requiring that the horses be adopted to a good home or sanctuary. 

The horses continue to fall off the rolls and none of the politicians care. If they did, they would address this issue. They continue to prop up the Council Speaker catering to her every whim.   

WHAT YOU CAN DO: You can call your Council Member and ask them to actively support Intro 670. Their contact information can be found here. If you live outside NYC, contact Council Speaker Christine Quinn. Calls are much more effective than e-mails. 

NYC IS GETTING A NEW MAYOR: The mayoral election is in November 2013. The primary will be in either June or September of 2013. Stay tuned. Contact us at coalition@banhdc.org to get our newsletter to stay informed on this very important issue.

For years NYC has been cheated by the gods getting mayors whose attributes do not include compassion. Is it Karma? Who knows! The number of people voting has dropped significantly in the November elections and the primaries. Only 29% of registered voters cast their ballot in the 2009 mayoral election compared with about 45% across the United States and over 50% in the balance of New York State. This is an interesting report about voting in NYC.

What is going on? Why are people not interested? Is it because the current leaders do not address their concerns and they feel that their vote does not matter?   

Whatever the answer to that is, we need to be on top of this issue, pay attention and not jump on the most convenient bandwagon. Your vote does matter as long as it is cast for a good candidate who has a backbone, intelligence and compassion.

The mayoral race is still open and no one has risen to the top yet. Your choice of mayor in 2013 can have everything to do with whether NYC becomes a humane and compassionate city with respect for people and animals and whether the inhumane horse-drawn carriage trade becomes a thing of the past.
 
Please share with everyone you know.

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NURSE MARE FARMS -- AN UNNECESSARY EVIL

so many throw away foals...

The other day I received an e-mail about 15 new foals who had just arrived at a sanctuary and were in desperate need of homes. Huh, says I – why so many? Where did they come from? Who is breeding these animals and not taking any responsibility for them? I am totally confused. So I started digging and this is what I found. Just when you think it is “safe to go back into the water” another atrocity strikes.

Known as “nurse mare foals,” these orphaned babies are the throwaway by-product of a cynical industry that leases out lactating mares - their mothers - to nurse foals other than their own. Their own foals are taken from them between one day and one week of age. These foals are either killed, sent to slaughter or rescued. Some are also skinned and their hides used for high end leather products – soft like a baby’s skin.

Why does this evil practice even exist you ask? Here is why: A mare who is prized as a race horse can immediately return to work as a show horse or racehorse after giving birth to her own foal. Instead, her baby is nursed by the nursing mares who are leased out. A prized mare can also be bred again if she does not have to be involved with nursing her own foal. She, of course, does not have a choice. It is all about money and elitism. It is wrong.

The only way to stop this evil is for the racing industry and others who do this to allow their mares to nurse and wean their own young for as long as it takes.

Please see these links on the issue and on the rescues that are helping the unwanted foals:

Nurse-Mare Farms: The Industry’s "Other" Dirty Little Secret

Dream Equine Therapy Center

Mountain View Rescue

A word about the homeless horse crisis, which is directly related to horse slaughter.

According to the USDA, 112,904 US horses were slaughtered in 2010 – up from 106,542 in 2009. 53,104 went to Mexico and 59, 693 to Canada. Horse slaughter is illegal in the US.

We need to put a stigma on the breeding of horses just like we have done about the irresponsible breeding of cats and dogs. We still kill millions in animal shelters yearly, but the numbers have gone down significantly because of campaigns emphasizing spaying and neutering and controlling births. The same thing must be done with horses.

There are far too many and not enough good homes. The slaughter house is no option and we need to get a handle on this obscene problem. While these babies are adorable and are in desperate need of a home, they will displace other horses already here. It is an industry that should be abolished.

As long as so many - horses, cats, and dogs – are throwaways, dying for lack of good homes, something is wrong with our society.

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NYC CARRIAGE HORSES - it is not what will happen to them if there is a ban. It is what is happening NOW!

I have to admit that I am very tired of this question - what will happen to the horses if the carriage industry is banned? If you are new to the issue, I can understand the question. But if you are not, it means you are not reading the proposed legislation that has been out for almost four years – first Intro 658 and then Intro 86! This is important if you are to be fully educated about this issue.

HISTORY: In 2006, the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages began the campaign to put an end to this inhumane, unsafe and frivolous carriage trade in NYC. But one would think that we went into this without any thought to the horses, considering some of the questions we get. This is the only reason we are involved in this issue at all.

It was and remains our desire to save the horses. Period.

NEW DISPOSITION LANGUAGE: In 2007, we worked with former Council Member and present NYS Senator Tony Avella to introduce Intro 658. This bill was historic, the first ever bill to ban the carriage industry. The language to deal with “horse disposition” as it is referred to, was considered very carefully by the City Council’s attorneys because the horses are privately owned. The “A” section addressed horse disposition. For those of you who have never read this section of the bill, it is included below.

The purpose was to amend the existing Administrative Code. The text in brackets [ ] means it is removed. The italicized sections indicate new language. The intent of this amended section would require that the owners be held accountable for all the horses in their businesses and make sure they were either adopted into a good home or a sanctuary. They would not be allowed to be sold to work in another carriage trade.

The present law states that a horse must be disposed of in a ”humane manner,” which is meaningless because it never included an explanation. The law also does not require that sales or transfer records be submitted to the Department of Health if the transaction is made outside of New York City as most are. This means a horse can be taken to auction and the owner is not required to provide this information to the Department of Health. This is where many horses fall through the cracks. When one studies the existing carriage horse regulations, it is quite apparent that they were written to protect the industry -- not the horses -- and to secure the veil of secrecy.

Section 1. Section 17-329 of title 17 of the Administrative Code of the city of New York is amended to read as follows:
§17-329 Disposition of licensed horse. a. The department shall be notified of the transfer of ownership or other disposition of a licensed horse within [ten] five days thereafter. Such notice shall include the date of disposition and [if sold in New York city,] the name and address of the buyer or other transferee and such other information as the commissioner may prescribe.
b. A horse shall not be sold or disposed of except in a humane manner, which, for the purposes of this subchapter shall mean one of the following:
1. The owner shall sell or donate the horse to a private individual who signs an assurance that the horse will not be sold and shall be kept solely as a companion animal and not employed in another horse-drawn carriage business or as a work horse and will be cared for humanely for the remainder of the horse's natural life; or
2. The owner shall sell or donate the horse to a duly incorporated animal sanctuary or duly incorporated animal protection organization whose president or executive director signs an assurance that the horse will not be sold and shall be kept solely as a companion animal and not employed in another horse-drawn carriage business and will be cared for humanely for the remainder of the horse's natural life.
c. Records indicating the name, address and telephone number of the private individual, duly incorporated animal sanctuary or duly incorporated animal protection organization to whom the horse was sold or donated together with the assurance specified above shall be sent by the owner to the department within five days after such sale or donation. A copy of such record shall also be maintained at the stable.


VINTAGE CAR BILL: Intro 86, the vintage car bill, which was introduced in 2010, did not include anything about saving the horses. They would still continue to fall through the cracks on their way to auction in upstate New York and Pennsylvania. We asked the sponsor of the bill, Council Member Melissa Mark Viverito to add this same section to her bill, which she did.

But the City Council is never going to pass a bill without seeing a prototype of this “vintage replica electric hybrid car.” And because the sponsors of this bill know that and have been supposedly working on this “car” since 2008, we wonder why they have not produced a model car. Some Council Members brought this up over one year ago at the Council hearing of Intro 86.

And while all this inaction continues, the horses continue to disappear – approximately 1/3 - about 70 - disappear from the Department of Health rolls each year. Carriage horses have an average working life on the street of only four years. Because of the way the existing law is written, favoring the lack of transparency by the industry, they keep falling through the cracks on their way to the slaughter auctions. Sure some of them – the favorites – are saved and find good homes. But the majority probably do go to auction. There is simply no real proof because of the way the law is written. The industry can claim they adopt every one, but they are not required to show any proof.

SLAUGHTER STATISTICS: On their web site, the Equine Welfare Alliance (source is USDA) cites 112, 904 US horses slaughtered in 2010 – up from 106,542 in 2009. 53,104 went to Mexico and 59, 693 to Canada. Surely some of those horses were from the carriage trades all over the country. There are too many horses because people unconscionably still breed them. As with cats and dogs and the emphasis on spaying and neutering over the last 20 –30 plus years, we need to make the breeding of horses unacceptable until none are sent on to the slaughter auctions. Considering the price of horseflesh – approximately 60-80 cents a pound, a 1,000-pound horse can bring about $800; 2,000-pound horse (large draft breeds) can bring about $1,600.


In 2010, the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages, along with Equine Advocates and Friends of Animals, rescued Bobby II Freedom from the slaughter auction at New Holland, Pennsylvania. Bobby, then called Billy, was a discarded NYC carriage horse who had been owned by two people from West Side Livery stable on W. 38th St. Bobby’s story is truly heart warming and he was recently immortalized by Peter Max in a beautiful painting that was auctioned off at the Armory’s art show in NYC. He is now living the Life of Reilly at Equine Advocates Sanctuary in upstate New York.

I cannot stress upon you enough that if you care about these horses, you must care about what happens to them now. Intro 86A addresses what will happen to them if the industry is banned.

But we want to take that section and make a stand alone bill and convince the Council to pass it now.

Recently, we put up a petition on Change.org that addresses this issue. The petition generates letters to the City Council asking them to pass a stand-alone bill that would address the issue of horse slaughter now. It would make the owners accountable for their horses.


If you have not done so yet - read and sign the petition on Change.org




SOURCES

Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages
http://banhdc.org/

Horses Without Carriages International
http://horseswithoutcarriages.org/


Equine Welfare Alliance
http://www.equinewelfarealliance.org/


Mary Nash's Horse Meat Website
http://kaufmanzoning.net/

Animals Angels

http://www.animalsangels.org/

photos credited to Animals Angels, Equine Welfare Alliance, Equine Advocates

NYC CARRIAGE HORSE FOUND AT SLAUGHTER AUCTION

As reported in the most recent newsletter of the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages:

"Manhattan" is an 18 year old Belgian gelding who has been identified as a NYC carriage horse by the number engraved on his left front hoof. According to the web site of Gentle Giant Draft Horse Rescue in Maryland, he was rescued from a slaughter auction on January 19th. He had a condition known as Laryngeal Paralysis, where half of his vocal cords ceased opening enough to allow him to breath comfortably. He has since had surgery and is healing.

The web site indicates that the Rescue did some research and found that Manhattan last worked as a carriage horse in NYC in the fall. We doubt the accuracy of this information (since it was the carriage industry that probably furnished it) because it would have been 3-4 months later that he was purchased at the slaughter auction. What was he doing in all of that time? We believe that he was worked to exhaustion during the Christmas holiday period and then dumped. That time period makes more sense.

Of course this information flies in the face of the industry claims that none of their horses go to slaughter. Sure...

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Well put, Coalition! The industry likes to say that they retire all of their horses who can no longer work ... that they have a place for them to retire.

But that would be physically and financially impossible.

Each year about 70 horses or 1/3 of the total number of horses in the NYC trade, leaves the horse registry managed by the Department of Health, which oversees the industry. Let's do the math. If the drivers would "adopt" all of these horses ... in five years, they would have 350 horses; 10 years - 700 horses ... and on and on.

Where would they all go? How could they afford to pay for their upkeep?

It simply does not make sense. And it is time to stop all the lies.

WHAT PROBABLY HAPPENS IS THIS:

- some of the horses who are "retired" - the favorites - are kept by the owners or they find a home for them ... but this is not the majority since keeping horses is both expensive and time consuming.

- the majority of horses who are no longer wanted are taken to auction or to a broker -- or maybe to the Amish - not exactly known for their compassion to animals. The driver/owner needs to recoup the value of the horse he is getting rid of so he can purchase a new one to work in NYC. This is a business after all, not a not-for-profit horse rescue. Selling the horse is the obvious solution.

- However, some of the horses going to auction are purchased by killer buyers who frequent auctions like New Holland and Unadilla and ship them off to slaughter.

- The driver/owners can say what ever they want about where their horse go. Without proof, it simply does not fly. This is the law in black and white. It is from the NYC Administrative Code - Title 17.

§ 17-329 Disposition of licensed horse. The department shall be notified of the transfer of ownership or other disposition of a licensed horse within ten days thereafter. Such notice shall include the date of disposition and if sold in New York city, the name and address of the buyer or other transferee and such other information as the commissioner may prescribe. A horse shall not be sold or disposed of except in a humane manner.

Notice that the law is written in such a way that it favors the industry. It does not provide a definition for "humane." And it only requires that records of horses sold within New York City be submitted to the Department of Health. But if the horse is sold outside NYC, sales records are not required to be submitted.

Now, doesn't this seem strange to you? Why would records be required for a sale in NYC when it is mostly drivers who buy each others horses -- and not required when sold out of state?

Here's the answer.

The "no sale records" required policy is necessary to protect the industry selling their horses at the auctions. They know that if this became public knowledge, it would not go over well with people. How many horses actually go to auction is not know because of this glitch.

But sometimes, as in the case of “Manhattan” we find out about it.

We are very glad Manhattan appears to be getting well.