Coalition to Ban Horse Drawn Carriages

We're calling on City Council to stop the dangerous, inhumane carriage horse industry. We have a common sense solution to replace horses carriages with vintage replica cars - and we'll deliver 83,000 petitions in support!

Join NYCLASS, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, Rational Animal, Animal Haven & PETA for a press conference & rally for carriage horses on the steps of City Hall!

We'll have t-shirts and signs for everyone.

RSVP AT WWW.NYCLASS.ORG/MAY21

Questions: info@nyclass.org 212-626-6991

From the Coalition to Ban Horse Drawn Carriages Newsletter April 15, 2012

Manhattan Media's newspapers - West Side Spirit, Our Town and NY Press - did a recent cover story on the carriage horse issue. While we are always glad to see the issue getting coverage, there were several mistakes or questionable statements that are worth pointing out. They include:
"Horses are supposed to work every other day and only for nine hours at a time, giving them the chance to rest after a day of lugging carriages and tourists around from the day before, a result of previous legislature to ensure the horses are treated fairly." This is not true. By law, horses are allowed to work nine hours a day, seven days a week. See the Administrative Code - Section 17-330-g.

"The event touted the industry's partnership with Blue Star Equiculture of Palmer, Mass., where retired horses go to live after serving on the streets of New York City." This self-described "official" carriage horse "retirement facility" only has two NYC carriage horses. Department of Health records show a yearly turnover of between 60 and 70 carriage horses. Where do all of them go?

"Last year, the ASPCA did an intensive study of the horses for 281 days and found no instances of abuse, according to McHugh." If this did happen, where is the report? We are not aware of it.
"We support any legislation that gets these horses out of harm's way," said Carly Marie Knudson, executive director of NYCLASS, a group that wants to end the use of carriage horses in the city." - This is unfortunately not true - and we wonder why NY-Class does not give their support to the Avella/Rosenthal state bill. The bills are not in competition. But NY Class only supports the electric car bill, which has raised many questions. When they introduced the bill in 2010, it did not include any protection for the horses, as our bill did. I asked Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito to add the section making the drivers accountable for their horses and ensuring that they would all be saved. That is why it is now called Intro 86A.
"The horses are kept in four stables on the Upper West Side," The horse stables are in Hell's Kitchen, between W. 37th St. and W. 52nd St. and between 10th and 12th Avenues.
"Conor McHugh, a carriage driver of 26 years, said protesters of the industry have yelled at customers and at times thrown water or spit on them for taking a ride." I have never witnessed or heard of such behavior from activists. I did, however, hear about one of the prominent carriage owners throwing horse manure at activists.
4/4/12 - No Horsing Around this Time - Will the Central Park horses finally be outlawed? By Anam Baig and Sean Creamer - Central Park's horse-drawn carriages have been a traditional New York City tourist attraction since the 1930s, but animal rights activists have been pushing for years to close the stables, free the horses and find them a home outside the Big Apple. Three recent incidents involving the horses have resparked the debate and shed light again on the horses and the iconic tourist experience. March 3, a horse was spooked on the Upper West Side and took off, dragging a tipped carriage through heavy traffic. Last December, a horse collapsed near Grand Army Plaza at 59th Street while pulling a carriage holding three adults and a child, tossing them to the ground. In October, another horse, Charlie, died while pulling a carriage on the way to Central Park. Those in favor of the horse carriages claim that the incidents are sporadic and don't reflect the high standard used by the industry. The opponents claim that it's just another day at work for the horses. Continued

SIGN UP FOR LOBBY DAY. We hope you will join us for Lobby Day in Albany on May 1st to support the Avella/Rosenthal bill to ban horse-drawn carriages in NYC. Please do not worry about your knowledge of the bill. You will be part of a team and I promise you - if you choose - you will not have to say anything more than your name -- and maybe not even that. Please -- let's show our legislators that there is support for this issue. Sign up now. Click Here to sign up for the League of Humane Voters round trip bus to Albany, which is only $20.

IMPORTANT: If you are planning to attend Lobby Day -- and are not going by the LoHV bus, please click on the LOHV link above, and then click on "no thanks, I'll make my own arrangements" and enter your contact information so LoHV can determine who your legislators are and be able to contact and coordinate with you the day of the event.

Please forward and please make comments online. Let's keep this story on the front page!

Please Don't Celebrate Easter with NYC Carriage Horse Ride
http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/animal-rights/please-dont-celebra...

Phyllis M Daugherty on Apr 3, 2012 for Opposing Views

The lucrative Easter weekend for New York City’s horse-drawn carriage operators is just a few days off. But, Easter will not be a blessing for the harnessed horses who pull overloaded carriages through heavy traffic to satisfy greedy drivers capitalizing on holiday tourism.

Easter Sunday (April 8) stands to be a Bonanza for Carriage Industry, Buyer Beware!

“It is not unusual for New York City carriage drivers to overcharge and cheat their customers, according to a recent Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) response,” said Elizabeth Forel of the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages. “This new information raises even more troubling concerns and questions about inhumane practices and overcharging in this cash-only business operating with minimal oversight by city agencies.”

Callers to the City’s 311 line from 2009 to 2011 made numerous complaints about danger, unsafe/inhumane practices and possible alcohol use by drivers. And numerous instances of overcharging are documented. The information in this FOIL response was provided by Jay Damashek, senior managing attorney, office of the General Counsel, New York City Department of Information Technology & Telecommunications, and can be seen here. www.tinyurl.com/311horses

This March 21, 2012, video shows a deliberate violation of the overloading law. The consumer shows no concern for the welfare for the animal or the fact that she is aiding and abetting a crime. Instead she threatens the activist who exposes the violation!

EXPLOITATION IGNORED--OR ALLOWED--BY NYC OFFICIALS?

Official oversight of the carriage industry is shared by the Department of Consumer Affairs and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) also has enforcement authority; however, its involvement is voluntary and limited.

The ASPCA has stated repeatedly in recent years that New York City streets cannot be made safe for the operation of horse-drawn carriages. The organization states on its website, “In addition to the dangers of working in congested areas, these horses spend their days directly behind cars, trucks and buses, inhaling their fumes…Neither the New York City environment nor the current law can provide horses with the fundamental necessities to ensure their safety and well being.” Yet, The NYC carriage trade boasts they have never been charged with animal cruelty, which in the case of horses would only be a misdemeanor--not even a felony.

Particularly concerning is the ASPCA’s apparent unwillingness, as a voluntary “overseer,” to issue violations or even to report known accidents. It has refused repeated Coalition requests for a list of accidents. “As an organization that operates outside the purview of city government, the ASPCA is not subject to Freedom of Information Law,” Forel said.

In addition to overcharging on the hack line, the “industry,” which consists of only 160 full timers, also overcharges on various web sites. City agencies have been provided with video and online advertising that clearly demonstrates the extent of practices endangering the horses and public, and overcharging by the carriage industry, with their usual lack of response.

WHAT IS ALLOWED:

The rate (per legislation passed in 2010) is $50 for 20 minutes and $20 for each additional 10 minutes. The law does NOT provide for special or seasonal rates.

WHAT IS HAPPENING:

The law, however, does not deter the following companies from overcharging and trying to give the impression that they are the “official” NYC site:

NY Central Park Tours (Tours from $85 - $200)

http://nycentralparktours.com/horse-and-carriage-tours

Central Park Horses (Tours from $100 - $250)

http://www.centralparkhorses.com/central-park-horse-and-carriage-city-to...

Some complaints taken from the 311 call logs:

--“carriage number is 1132. Caller states he clearly smelled alcohol on the driver”
-- “carriage driver was backing up the horse carriage from the right lane to the left lane in the middle of oncoming traffic. Cars were zooming by and dangerously swerving away”
--“the horse drawn carriage ran a red light”
--“driver told him the rate was $50.00 for 10 minutes”
--“driver insisted for $50 and the ride was only about 11 minutes”
--“rode the carriage “for 28 minutes and was charged $60. License # 126127
--“driver indicated a tip of 20% was mandatory; stable name, Jimmy; driver’s name, Oscar; license # 1085
--“after 15 minutes, the driver made them get off and charged full price”
--“Selling the rides for $50 or more for whoever would pay the highest for the ride. The driver was picking people out of turn and the customers made to wait 5 turns because of his overcharging.”

Department of Consumer Affairs Violations

Also obtained from a Freedom of Information request were the Department of Consumer Affairs cited violations for the time period January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2011. These, not surprisingly, included horse in harness for more than 10 hours; horse improperly treated; carrying more than 4 passengers, operating a cab while intoxicated, abandon/improper driver, improper maximum rate sign, no daily log kept, failure to produce consumer receipt book.

View DCA complaints here. http://tinyurl.com/CarriageViolationsNYC

Compounding the issues of consumer deception and improper treatment of working horses, this industry is riddled with other problems. A recent Horse Sense newsletter from the Coalition discussed a few; among them, current law does not require or encourage accountability as to what happens to horses when they can no longer pull a carriage, and questionable and/or fictitious industry claims about horse “vacations.”

Donny Moss, activist/filmmaker, who won an HSUS Genesis Award in 2009 for “Blinders—the Movie,” states, “In the years since I started working on this campaign, I have never seen the Department of Consumer Affairs out in the streets. Like the ASPCA, which turns a blind eye to the cruelty violations, the Department of Consumer Affairs fails to enforce its regulations. In the absence of law enforcement, the NYC horse and buggy drivers have no reason to obey the law. So they don't.” www.blindersthemovie.com

From the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages:
Please join the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages and animal activists on Sunday April 1st to protest the horse carriage trade - up close and personal. Clip Clop NYC is sponsored by the Horse & Carriage Association of NYC and takes place this weekend. This is their attempt to reach out to the public and the media to convince them that they are right and we are wrong. They will offer free carriage rides, a stable tour of Clinton Stables (they never go to the others) and, of course they will have posters and literature ... but so will we.

Let's show them that carriage horses do not belong in NYC. It is inhumane and unsafe.

If you go to no other demo this year, please come to this one!
We need to come out in big numbers to show the media that there is support in NYC for a ban of the carriage trade.
Every media poll taken since 2006 shows at least 75% of respondents in favor of a ban.
Our petition to support the Avella/Rosenthal bill in Albany to ban horse-drawn carriages in NYC has over 119,000 signatures.

When: Sunday, April 1st at 11:30 AM until 3:00

Where: North/west corner of Central Park South and Fifth Avenue at the hack line

A little late but at least you get the idea

Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages HorseSense reports in their newsletter of 3/18/12 3/18/12:

The Department of Consumer Affairs has confirmed a report from an eye witness - that a tragic incident happened within Central Park on Valentine's Day, February 14, 2012. One of the carriage horses who was pulling a carriage within the park fell and broke his leg. Yes you heard correctly! Broke his leg!!! The ASPCA was present. We hear that the horse was then shipped to a "farm" in New Jersey or was it upstate New York? Highly doubtful. A broken leg is a death sentence for a carriage horse. He probably got a bullet through the head. These horses are expendable. Was this horse just so much collateral damage; should he even have been pulling a carriage that day?

ASPCA COMPLICIT? The ASPCA's Humane Law Enforcement Division does the job of a police department. Yet - unlike the NYPD, they are not subject to the Freedom of Information Law to assure transparency in government. They act with impunity doing whatever they choose to do under the guise of being "volunteer." I have asked them to produce a list of carriage horse incidents/accidents but they ignore me. Yet, if they were to reveal what they know about the carriage business in NYC, they could bring the industry down. Are they just fund raising off this Humane Law gig?

This is a list of the accidents we know about that have occurred since July of 2011. Random eye witnesses were responsible for providing information on all of them.

July 16, 2011 - carriage horse spooked and bolted, galloping from Grand Army Plaza/Fifth Avenue - up Central Park South to 7th Avenue, hitting a taxi and car on the way
End of July, 1011 - Horse spooks and falls while pulling tourists in Central Park
July 25, 2011 - taxi crashes into flimsy carriage, causing serious injuries to driver and passengers
October 23, 2011 - Charlie, NYC carriage horse, collapses and dies on W. 54th St. on his way to work. The cause of his death is still unexplained.
October 28, 2011 - unnamed horse spooks on Central Park South and runs into the traffic, eventually crashing and falling in the park. He is no longer in the industry.
November 4, 2011 - Luke, NYC carriage horse, collapses on W. 60th St. He is down for 15 minutes
December 4, 2011 - horse named Charlie collapsed on W. 59th St. He was painfully pulled up by his bit. He is no longer in the industry.
February 14, 2012 - horse falls in Central Park and breaks his leg. He is no longer in the industry.
March 3, 2012 - unnamed horse spooks on 11th Avenue 52nd St., dragging his empty, overturned carriage into the street.

Please write to NYC's mayor and to NYC & Company, the official tourist agency. it is important for them to know how people feel. Mailed snail mail letters are preferred. Mention all of the accidents and ask for the City to do an investigation.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg; City Hall, New York, NY 10007
Contact the mayor through the internet - click here
George Fertitta, CEO of NYC & Company; 810 Seventh Ave., 3 fl; New York, NY 10019
e-mail - gfertitta@nycgo.com

There was ANOTHER accident involving a carriage horse on Saturday. That's EIGHT accidents in just EIGHT months!

Accidents involving these horses are becoming more common and it is only through the concern and action of people like you that will finally bring it all to an end.

Just this past Saturday during early evening traffic rush, a carriage horse, spooked by an unknown source of danger, bolted into 11th Avenue traffic, dragging an overturned carriage behind it. The horse finally came crashing to the ground in front of The Daily Show building.

An eyewitness captured video of police rushing to the scene with lights & sirens, with the carriage flipped on it's side, wheels in the air. Injuries to the horse, driver and pedestrians are still unknown. Not surprisingly, the carriage industry and the City aren't talking.

As you know, our proposed electric cars, aka the "Horseless Carriage", don't spook or flip. We're currently developing the prototype, but we need your help. Make a contribution where every dollar will go to build the prototype of the vintage electric cars that will replace the carriage horses.

How many more accidents will it take before something is done?! The City may be sitting on it's hands...but we here at NYCLASS sure aren't. We're building the Horseless Carriage prototype as we speak. But we cannot do it without your support. Please contribute today.

You are indeed, Horse Heroes.

Carly Knudson
Executive Director
NYCLASS

This from the YouTube page where this video resides:

"March 3, 2012 A carriage horse, apparently frightened by some unknown source of danger, bolted and ran off into traffic on Saturday, March 3rd, dragging his empty carriage, which had tipped over. The horse finally fell to the ground outside the studio where Jon Stewart tapes The Daily Show -- on 11th Avenue, south of 52nd Street. It occurred about 6pm when the streets are very congested

According to an eye witness who supplied the video to the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages, the horse was shaking and looked frightened from this ordeal. He was unhooked from the carriage by the driver and walked down 11th Avenue, presumably to his stable. The eye witness, who was walking her dog, had just crossed 11th Avenue when she heard a very loud crash. When she turned to look, the horse was already tearing down the street, the carriage in tow. Upset at seeing this accident and experiencing a very close call, she said that if she had still been on the other side of the street, she is sure that she and her dog would have been injured."

How many accidents does it take before the City Government wakes up to this inhumane and dangerous industry?

The time to remove the horses from the mean streets of NYC is long past. Please sign the petition here and add your name to Anjelica Huston's letter to City Council Speaker, Christine Quinn.

Here is the video taken after the apparently spooked horse was stopped after reportedly running up 11th Avenue dragging an overturned carriage.

Co-sign Anjelica Huston's Letter to Christine Quinn!
http://action.stophorseabuse.com/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8501

Donate
https://wfc2.wiredforchange.com/o/8560/p/salsa/donation/common/public/?d...

PLEASE FORWARD

New Yorkers - city and state - We need you!

Lobby day for the bill to ban horse-drawn carriages in NYC, sponsored by Senator Tony Avella and Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, is MAY 1ST in Albany. We plan to lobby the members below since they are in the Cities Committee, where the bill currently is. The list also includes the speaker of the Assembly, Sheldon Silver -- and the Senate Majority Leader, Dean Skelos.

Dogs are suffering a hellish death by being baked alive for a 'better flavor', due to extreme release of stress hormone adrenaline. Needs no explanation, but this is important to save innocent dogs from this unspeakable horror and restore some common decency for the good humans in China, who object to this.