In addition, they're often spooked by the crowds, cars, and people causing them to panic and injure themselves. These are proven FACTS. Not some bias publicity campaign. Know the facts on horse-drawn carriages and support us and Lea Michele in banning them! You can tweet Mayor Bloomberg @MikeBloomberg and let him know you want the horse abuse to stop. You can also tweet Lea Michele @MsLeaMichele and show your support. Help us put an END to this archaic slave drive. NYC is a city of animal lovers . It's atrocious that this is still practiced here, and that our mayor chalks it up as "tradition." Horse carriage abuse does not represent New Yorkers.
Sign the petition and support NY Class!
UPDATE: Given the positive reception from supporters and the fierce opposition from the pro-carriage attack mob, we will continue to cover this very important issue as much as we can. Despite the vehement personal attacks I've received for touching on this subject, I feel the issue needs to be addressed. I'm more than happy to take baseless insults from people if it helps expose what is going on. I have no financial interest or anything to gain from covering this issue. However, those who are attacking me, do. There is money to be made --and a lot of it. They will attempt as much character assassination on their opponents as possible and at all costs. But how can we, as a progressive state, see these horses collapsing on the street and do nothing about it? That is what we have to ask ourselves. Read on for links to further reading and cited facts from experts (not my opinion) regarding horse-drawn carriages.
Further reading covering the issue:
Care2: Horse Carriages Are a Thing of The Past, Not the Future
One Green Planet: NYC Carriage Horses Don't Get What They Need
Asiance Magazine: Ban Horse Drawn Carriages
Ny Daily News: Activists Work to Ban Carriage Horses
The Kind Life: Horse Drawn Carriages
The Daily Beast: Tradition or Cruelty?
From PETA: 'Horse-drawn Carriages: Don't Get Taken for a Ride' [updated]
Images of horse-drawn carriages ferrying newlyweds and vacationing families down city streets belie the truth of an industry that is a danger to horses and humans alike.
In the fall of 2007, a 12-year-old mare named Smoothie panicked when she heard loud drumming in New York City’s Central Park and galloped onto a sidewalk. As she darted between two poles, the carriage she was harnessed to became lodged. She struggled in vain to keep running, and she eventually collapsed and died. Another horse startled by the same noise bolted into the street and collided with a car.(1)
A year earlier, a horse named Juliet—who had been forced to pull carriages for 17 years in New York City—collapsed in Central Park one night and was beaten by the driver with a whip in an attempt to force her to her feet. An angry crowd stopped him, but police allowed the beating to continue after the driver claimed that a veterinarian recommended it. Juliet died later that night.(2)
Driving Horses to Ill Health
Despite the public outcry over Smoothie’s and Juliet’s tragic deaths (and others before them), little has changed for the 1,000 to 2,000 horses forced to pull carriages in cities across the country.(3)
Because they are constantly walking and standing on hard streets, “lameness and hoof deterioration are inevitable” in horses who pull carriages, says veterinarian Holly Cheever. “The problems are worsened by the inexperience of the gross majority of the owners and drivers, who are either incapable of recognizing lameness or are unwilling to suffer financial loss by removing a horse from service for a few days.”(4)
The smoke and exhaust fumes from urban traffic are also dangerous for horses. Horses walk with their heads lowered, usually at around 3 to 3 1/2 feet above street level, so these animals are “truly ... living a nose-to-tailpipe existence,” according to Cheever.(5)
Weather conditions sometimes prove fatal for working horses. The horses are exposed to bitter-cold and scorching-hot temperatures. In summer months, horses suffering from dehydration or heatstroke can die in just a few hours. Some cities outlaw carriage rides when the temperature reaches a certain temperature, but often the official weather bureau reading does not accurately reflect the temperature on the streets. A study published by researchers from Cornell University found that the air temperature recorded by the weather bureau can be nearly 50 degrees cooler than the asphalt temperature.(6)
Most cities have only minimal regulations governing working conditions for horses who pull carriages, and these regulations are rarely enforced. In an audit of the New York City carriage industry, the city comptroller found that horses in the field were not examined by a Department of Health and Mental Hygiene veterinarian for an entire year and that during scheduled inspections of the stables, the veterinarian only spent 25 minutes at each location, including the time it took to travel between stables. The comptroller’s audit found that horses on the street did not have ready access to water and had insufficient shade during hot weather and that because of poor street drainage, “the horses are left to stand in pools of dirty water.”(7)
Accidents Waiting to Happen
Horses and heavy city traffic can also be a deadly mix. Despite carriage operators’ claims, most horses are not comfortable working among cars and trucks, and many accidents, injuries, and even deaths—to horses and humans—result from horses who have become “spooked” in traffic. Former carriage driver Angie Pheiffer says, “Anything can spook a horse because a horse has black-and-white vision and can only see two-dimensionally. To a horse, a manhole can look like a bottomless pit.”(8) Dr. Cheever adds, “Horses are herbivores whose unique response to stress is to run their butts off. Because of that, in a split second you can have a horse go from being half asleep to being 1,200 pounds crashing through traffic.”(9) A half-dozen people were sent to the hospital when a carriage horse galloped through Charleston’s historic district, causing the vehicle to hit a curb and tip over.(10)
What You Can Do
People around the world are increasingly recognizing that it’s the carriage industry—not just the horses—taking them for a ride. Pressure from concerned residents has resulted in bans on carriage horses in a growing number of international cities like London, Paris, Beijing, and Toronto as well as in a handful of U.S. cities, including Sante Fe, New Mexico, and Key West, Florida.(11)
Never patronize carriage rides, and explain to family and friends why they shouldn’t either. If your city allows carriages on city streets, propose legislation that will ban it.
References
1) Anahad O’Connor and Kai Ma, “A Carriage Horse Dies After Bolting Onto a Sidewalk,” The New York Times 15 Sep. 2007.
2) Corey Kilgannon, “For Central Park Carriage Horse, Death Arrives Inelegantly,” The New York Times 16 Sep. 2006
3) Jessica Bennett, “Tradition or Cruelty?” Newsweek.com, 27 Sep. 2007.
4) Holly Cheever, letter to legislator, 1 Sep. 1991.
5) Cheever.
6) Nina Bassuk and Thomas Whitlow, “Evaluating Street Tree Microclimates in New York City,” Proc. 5th METRIA Conference, May 1985.
7) William G. Thompson, “Audit Report on the Licensing and Oversight of the Carriage-Horse Industry by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and Consumer Affairs,” The City of New York Office of the Comptroller Bureau of Management Audit, 27 Jun. 2007.
8) Lauren Beckham, “Charge Stirs New Debate Over Carriages in City Traffic,” Boston Herald 6 Aug. 1997
9) Bennett.
10) Associated Press, “Six People Hurt in Charleston Carriage Accident,” 14 Jan. 2008.
11) Bennett.
PETA's previous fact sheet accounts a history of problems:
Carriage Horses: Don't Get Taken For A Ride
What could be more romantic than a leisurely carriage ride on a warm summer evening? In the late 1980s, Whitey, a nine-year-old gelding, collapsed while pulling a carriage during a summer heat wave in New York City. A passing nurse gave Whitey an IV saline solution, and sympathetic police officers sprayed him with cool water for two hours. Eventually Whitey managed to get back on his feet. Another carriage horse, Misty, died from apparent heat exhaustion during the same heat wave.
Despite the national attention that was focused on the carriage horse industry after Whitey's collapse--and the outrage of romantics everywhere--little has changed for the horses.
A Hard Haul for Horses
Many horses who end up pulling carriages through city streets are "breakdowns" from harness racing tracks. Standardbreds are often trained to race by being tethered to the back of a truck that drives increasingly faster, so carriage horse operators consider these horses "street savvy."(1) But standardbreds are much smaller and lighter than traditional "draft horses" and are not accustomed to pulling heavy loads. Many other carriage horses are breakdowns from Amish farming communities. Regardless of their source, most horses, as veterinarian Holly Cheever points out, "enter the carriage horse trade with a legacy of previous injuries and debility."(2) When horses can no longer pull heavy carriages, they are sold to rendering plants or dog food companies.
Even for healthy horses, a carriage ride is not an easy trip. Most cities have only minimal regulations governing working conditions for carriage horses, and these regulations are rarely enforced. Carriage horse operators know all the loopholes in their city's laws. An officer with the Canadian SPCA has said, "[I]f regulations state that a horse can work for nine consecutive hours, but [fail] to say within a 24-hour period, [drivers will] work the horse for nine hours, give the horse an hour or two of rest, then come back on the road."(3) As a result, many horses work 12 or more hours a day, often in extreme weather conditions.
As in the case of Misty, weather conditions sometimes prove fatal for working horses. Carriage horses are exposed to bitter cold and scorching heat. Carriage Operators of North America, a trade organization to which only a small percentage of carriage horse operators belong, says horses may work if the temperature is nine degrees Fahrenheit, well below freezing.(4) In summer months, horses suffering from dehydration or heat stress can die in just a few hours. Some cities outlaw carriage rides when the temperature reaches a certain degree, but often the official weather bureau reading does not accurately reflect the temperature on the streets. A study published by Cornell University, for example, found that the air temperature recorded by the weather bureau can be nearly 50 degrees cooler than the actual asphalt temperature.(5) And the New York City Department of Transportation found that asphalt surfaces can reach 200 degrees Fahrenheit.(6)
Accidents Waiting to Happen
Horses and heavy city traffic can also be a deadly mix. Despite carriage horse operators' claims, most horses are not comfortable working among cars and trucks, and many accidents, injuries, and even deaths--to horses and humans--have been caused by horses becoming "spooked" in traffic. According to Cheever, it is normal for horses to "react to threatening situations with panic and flight."(7) A survey of national carriage horse accidents revealed that 85 percent of all accidents were the result of an animal spooking. Seventy percent of the time there was a human injury, and 22 percent of the time there was a human death.(8) The survey also found that in New York City, which has the highest carriage horse accident rate in the country, 98 percent of the horses who "spooked" became injured.(9,10) Injuries and fatalities resulting from collisions between cars and carriage horses have occurred in almost every city that allows carriage rides, including Cincinnati, Ohio; Salt Lake City, Utah; Charleston, South Carolina; Denver, Colorado; Baltimore, Maryland; and Houston, Texas.
Driving Horses to Ill Health
The smoke and exhaust fumes from urban traffic are also dangerous for horses. In a study by veterinarian Jeffie Roszel, "tracheal washes and samples from respiratory secretions of these horses showed enormous lung damage, the same kind of damage you would expect from a heavy smoker."(11) Horses' nostrils are usually only 3 to 3 1/2 feet above street level, so these animals are "truly ... living a nose-to-tailpipe existence."(12)
Carriage horses also routinely suffer at the hands of poorly trained drivers. Because they are constantly walking and standing on hard streets, "lameness and hoof deterioration are inevitable" in carriage horses, says Cheever. "The problems are worsened by the inexperience of the gross majority of the owners and drivers, who are either incapable of recognizing lameness or are unwilling to suffer financial loss by removing a horse from service for a few days."(13) Many drivers don't know how to fasten harnesses correctly, and either leave straps so loose they rub and chafe the horse's skin, or buckle the straps so tightly they pinch. And few horses are fitted with new horseshoes as often as is needed.
Unstable Conditions
Conditions for carriage horses aren't much better when the horses are off the streets. Raids on carriage horse stables have exposed stalls with no hay or other bedding, stall floors covered with urine and manure, poor ventilation in the stables, and horses who had no free access to water. Many stables have stacked floors--like parking garages--with steep ramps leading from one floor to the next. The floors in one stable were so rotten, they often gave way under the weight of the horses, repeatedly causing animals to break their legs.(14) In 1991, two horses owned by a carriage horse operator in New York died after being fed bad hay.(15)
It Isn't Romantic
Not surprisingly, carriage horse operators view attempts to regulate their industry--through stipulations on where and how long horses can work, temperature restrictions, and mandatory veterinary care--as economic threats. One carriage horse operator in Charleston, S.C., even said, "[L]egislation is ridiculous."(16)
In her classic novel, Black Beauty, Anna Sewell wrote, "My doctrine is this, that if we see cruelty or wrong that we have the power to stop, and do nothing, we make ourselves sharers in the guilt."(17)
People around the world agree and are increasingly recognizing that it's the carriage horse industry--not just the horses--who are taking them for a ride. Pressure from concerned residents has resulted in bans on carriage horses in a growing number of cities, including Palm Beach, Florida; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Las Vegas, Nevada; London; Paris; and Toronto.
References
1. King, Marcia, "The Carriage Trade: Putting the Cash Before the Horse," The Animals' Agenda, June 1992, p.43.
2. Cheever, Holly, D.V.M., Letter to legislators, September 1991, p.1.
3. King, The Animals' Agenda, p.43.
4. King, Marcia, "Focus on the Reality," Advocate, Summer 1992, pp.15-16.
5. Cheever, p.3.
6. King, Advocate, p.16.
7. Cheever, p.2.
8. King, Advocate, p.18.
9. "NY City: Have You No Pity?," Factsheet, Carriage Horse Action Committee, p.2.
10. King, Advocate, p.18.
11. Ibid, p.18.
12. Cheever, p.2.
13. King, Advocate, p.19.
14. Eddy, Eric, "Inhumane Carriage Horse Stable Exposed," Our Town, November 30, 1986.
15. Associated Press, "Bad Hay Blamed in Horses' Deaths," Democrat and Chronicle, August 26, 1991.
16. Evans, Charlotte, "Quaint Or Cruel?," Equus, Number 139.
17. Wynne-Tyson, Jon, ed., The Extended Circle: A Commonplace Book of Animal Rights, 1989, p.320.
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