LIES
AND DESPERATION
New York City – November 2013. It’s been bad news for those who operate horse-drawn carriages in
New York City and it is about time. For
years it was bad news for those who cared about animal welfare – with one cold hearted and insensitive Mayor after the other in office. But this election season it was different
with the top two candidates running for the office of Mayor both taking an
official stand in support of shutting down the inhumane and unsafe horse-drawn carriage
trade.
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| the eyes tell it all on this horse |
The carriage drivers and their friends are desperate and
digging in their heels. Even though the
handwriting is on the wall and has been for some time and two separate
alternate businesses have been offered to them and turned down, they are making
up lies about their carriage business to try to influence public opinion. They put out statements designed to deceive
and to make things appear much better than they really are … as long as no one
asks questions. The media in far
corners of the US - and some in New
York City - have picked up the Associated Press story and shamefully did no fact checking
on their own.
This is a business that has been unpopular in NYC for many,
many years – a business that has been favored by the last two administrations
that turned their backs on the violations and abuse. With Mayor-Elect Bill deBlasio taking office in January 2014 – it
will be different. Mr. DeBlasio has
promised to ban the horse-drawn carriage trade in New York City.
To sort through the duplicity put out by the carriage trade,
the following is a list of their
LIES followed by the TRUTH.
LIE: There have been only three carriage horses who died as a
result of a collision with traffic in the past 30 years.
TRUTH: In the last 7 years, there have been at least 4 public
deaths of carriage horses in NYC and many more within the confines of the
stables. Spotty – 2006; Juliet – 2006,
Smoothie – 2007, Charlie 2011. But
there have been many more horses who were injured because of accidents. The public does not differentiate between a
horse like Spotty who was involved in a horrific traffic accident in 2006 and
Charlie who dropped dead on the street several years later. There is something about the image of a dead
horse – helpless and no longer powerful - that resonates with our collective
unconscious guilt – where we feel a sense of responsibility for allowing this
abuse to continue without speaking up.
LIE: The industry is 155 years old.
TRUTH: This statement is designed to have people think this is a
long and venerable business. 155 years
would take us back to 1858 when Central Park was being built. Everyone used horses then. The industry as we know it today started in
the late 1940s when Mayor William O’Dwyer issued 68 medallions to individuals
to operate a horse-drawn carriages.
LIE: All the horse stalls are box stalls
TRUTH: A box stall is simply a configuration and says nothing about
size. According to law, the
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| Oreo - spooked and bolted into traffic - summer 2012 |
stalls must
be at least 60 square feet. But this is
less than half what experts recommend, which is 144 square feet (12’ x 12’) for
a standardbred horse who weighs about 1000 to 1200 pounds; for larger draft
breeds who can weigh more than 2,000 pounds, experts recommend at least a 197
square foot stall (14’ x14’). The space
does not exist in the NYC stables to do this properly so the horses are stuck
with substandard sized stalls.
LIE: The horses get a vacation for at least 5 weeks out of the
year.
TRUTH: A “vacation” is a human concept. Horses need daily turnout to pasture, which does not exist in
NYC. So for 47 weeks out of the year,
the horses are confined to their small stalls when they are not working on the
streets of NYC. The Department of
Health (DoH) does not require a list of
the “farms” where the horses are sent and the ASPCA is not required to inspect
them. According to this article in theNY Post, former ASPCA equine veterinarian Pam Corey said that many of the
horses look worse when they return from this vacation. It was never investigated.
Dr. Corey, the director of equine veterinary services of the
ASPCA’s humane law-enforcement department, said, “We have observed some horses
returning to New York City after furloughs on a farm in worse condition than
when they left.”
We have also heard this from others - that the horses are not fed properly when on "vacation" and are returned to NYC thin and unfit, but expected to return to work nine hours a day. This is truly a travesty and the NYC media must accept much of the blame for perpetuating this nonsense and not fact checking.
LIE: The industry is tightly regulated by many City agencies and
the ASPCA
TRUTH: While there are many laws on the books, enforcement is
rare. Because there is generally no one
in an official capacity at the hack line, the drivers break the laws with
impunity. And because the Commissioners
of the Department of Health and the Department of Consumer Affairs serve at the
pleasure of the Mayor, no one wants to rock the boat about bringing violations
to the surface. The ASPCA enforces all
animal cruelty laws on a volunteer basis and has fewer than 20 agents. They are rarely at the hack line or around
the streets where the drivers work to observe any violations. Starting on January 1st, the
ASPCA will no longer be involved with this enforcement. This
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| Chris - collapsed with carriage falling on him 9/26/13 |
is a link that shows violations.
LIE: The industry contributes $15,000.000 annually to the
economy.
TRUTH: This is a fabricated and extrapolated piece of
information. No one knows how much the
trade contributes in the way of taxes every year because it is a cash only
business. The number was originally put
out there by the organization that is promoting electric cars to show how their
industry would compare against the carriages.
But it is a puffed up estimate and cannot be confirmed or validated. It is suspected that the industry reports
far less income than it takes in and thus pays less in taxes.
LIE: Blue Star Equiculture (BSE) is the “official and guaranteed”
retirement home for NYC carriage horses.
TRUTH: Currently BSE lists only one former NYC carriage horse on
their site. Further the Coalition to
Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages published a 7 ½ year study that revealed a turnover
of 529 horses in the NYC carriage trade over this time period. This is a link to the study, which includes
raw data from the DoH.
LIE: Tourists love this iconic ride
TRUTH: It is not only New Yorkers who want this inhumane and unsafe
business to be gone. Many tourists
agree. More than 70,000 people signed
our first petition from a few years ago supporting a ban. It included eople from all 50 states and
more than 55 countries. Tourists
continue to tell us that they avoid the Central Park South area because they do
not want to see the horses – it is so troubling to them.
Every online poll done since 2006 has resulted in between 75 and 80 percent of
respondents voting in favor of a ban on horse-drawn carriages in NYC.
Our current online petition has more than 130,000 signatures on a petition in
support of the Avella/Rosenthal bill to ban horse-drawn carriages in NYC.
LIE: There are 300 carriage drivers in this industry that will be
affected by job loss.
TRUTH: While there
are close to 300 licenses, many of those holding them are part timers or
live in other states and
countries. According to Steve Malone of
the NYC Carriage Association, there are between 150 and 160 active drivers.
In addition, the drivers have turned down alternate businesses such as
retrofitting their carriages (and retiring the horses) or vintage replica
electric cars. This is a tiny industry
and the City of NY should stop being held hostage by a small handful of
people. Enough is enough. Many people have lost their jobs in the last
several years – ranging from municipal workers to corporate workers to those who
worked in businesses affected by redevelopment and gentrification. No one in the City Council or NYC government
created a special industry for them.
Things change, businesses become obsolete. People need to find new means of making a living -- to retrain
for new opportunities.
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| Oreo's carriage - summer 2012 |
There are no arguments that are justified here to defend
this abusive and dangerous trade. It
needs to stop. The best alternative
business that can happen in a relatively short period of time is retrofitting
carriages such as these produced by Andres Carriages.
The electric cars do not exist, are prohibitively expensive, and are not a realistic alternative. Let's all (both sides) get beyond this Emperor's New Clothes saga and move on and deal with reality. deBlasio needs to shut the industry down as promised. The owners can either accept retrofitting their carriages or get nothing.
LIE: Safety is a
non-issue
TRUTH: Safety is a huge issue. These horses weigh between 1500 and 2000 pounds. As prey animals they are nervous and
predictably unpredictable; can spook at the slightest provocation and cause
havoc – becoming unwitting weapons – can injure or kill themselves or
passerby. Dragging a slow moving flimsy
carriage through the congested traffic of NYC is a recipe for disaster.
There have been about 18 accidents in the last few years
that we know about. It might well be more because the drivers are not required
to report them to the NYPD; and even if the NYPD is called on the scene, they,
too, are not required to write a report.
We believe that many more happen and unless something is done, it is
just a matter of time before a human dies.
It has happened in other cities.
Horse-drawn carriages should not be allowed on the streets
of NYC – or in Central Park They are a
danger to themselves and innocent bystanders.
LIE : Since 1981 not one horse-drawn cab owner or
driver has been convicted of a cruelty charge.
TRUTH: This statement is absurd and begs the
following response:
What happened before
1981 – was someone arrested for animal cruelty? After all, the industry claims they have been in existence for
155 years.
This is like asking
people to vote for a candidate because he does not beat his wife. Very low standards.
As already mentioned,
there is little enforcement of this trade – however there have been many
violations recorded by the DCA and 311.
Most recently, it was learned that the driver of Chris, the carriage horse who
collapsed while going to work on September 26, 2013 was charged with double
shifting and overcharging his customers.
Double shifting is when a driver keeps a horse working for more than the
legally allowed 9 hours. See this report.
LIE: The
buildings in which the horses live are outfitted with high-pressure fire
sprinklers, pro-actively installed and paid for by the carriage owners, in the
absence of any law stating they must have them.
TRUTH: Two
previous city council bills requiring sprinklers in the stables were
killed. Because there is no law
requiring sprinklers in the horse stables, it is not known if they are
adequate, installed correctly, or even
if they exist.
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| horse parked over steaming manhole cover 2013 |
Further, the stables are a firetrap. If there were a fire on the upper floors,
there would be no way for the horses to get out. They would panic. There
is also only one means of egress in the stables.
LIE: Those who
oppose the horse-drawn carriage trade know nothing about horses while the
drivers have a lot of experience and are the experts.
TRUTH: One does not have to “own” horses to know that this practice
is wrong. Many people who have a lot of
experience with horses are opposed to this abusive trade. They include horse rescuers, veterinarians,
horse owners and just people who have compassion for animals. Besides so called “experience” means
nothing. Michael Vick had a lot of
experience with dogs and he ended up serving time in prison for his bad
actions.
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