Horse Drawn Carriage Rides Face Possible Ban
Description
by Robin Wallace and Annabella Asvik
August 24, 2008
NEW YORK -- A hallmark of New York City romanticism, handsome cab rides evoke images of fairytale endings. But these days, horses like 5-year old Beethoven are in the center of a heated animal rights' debate.
"They're standing in heavily congested traffic areas, nose to tail pipe of a bus," said Michelle Villagomez, senior manager of advocacy and campaigns at ASPCA. "The way the regulations stand right now, carriage horses can work up to nine hours a day, seven days a week."
But driver "Colin" says his horse Phoenix works no more than six hours a day on the street.
"He works a five day a week, Monday through Friday," said Colin, who only could be identified by first name. "It's pretty easy, not very strenous at all."
While the ASPCA contends the horses are working in extreme temperatures, a 27-year veteran carriage driver says it's not so.
"It's a-100 percent conformity on that law -- probably the only law in New York City that people conform to," said "Brenden," who also wished to be known void of a surname. "Like last week, we got a four day block where it exceeded 90 degrees Fahrenheit, so we didn't even bother coming to work."
The ASPCA is not opposed to horses pulling carriages for hire. Instead, they pushed for more humane working conditions, but the efforts languished in the city council.
"Being that the ASPCA is the primary enforcer of the carriage horse law," Villagomez said. "We realize we can't take the status quo anymore, that the ban becomes the next step."
New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg and the speaker of the city council Christine Quinn oppose the ban, saying it's essential to the tourism industry. Councilman Tony Avella, who introduced the ban, disagrees.
"Are you gonna tell me that some prospective tourist is not gonna come to New York because they can't get a ride on a carriage horse?" Avella said. "That's absurd. It belittles everything else New York has to offer."
Avella says horse-drawn carriages are a safety issue – and not just for the horses, but also for people.
"In the last year and a half there've been seven accidents, three horses have died and five people have been injured," said the District 19 councilman.
Some believe these accidents were caused by the horses being spooked, like documentary film maker Donny Moss.
"Horses are nervous, prey animals and they spook when exposed to stimuli," Moss said. "And you never know what's going to spook a horse."
But Moss' view of carriage horses as portrayed in his documentary "Blinders: The Truth Behind the Tradition," has inflamed the industry.
"I've seen it, gavel to gavel, and it's a very cleverly made, basically a piece of propaganda," said Brenden.
Colin was also familar with the protests against the handsome cabs.
"The people against our business are going to spread so much misinformation about our business," said Colin. "And, we feel, as an industry that it has just gone beyond free speech levels with these people."
The drivers contend the documentary presented a story line taken out of context.
"The difficulty is in the 21st century people cannot tell the difference between use and abuse," said Brenden.
While Colin contends the industry has nothing to hide.
"We are in the center of the world's eye, and everyone can see what we have, what sort of a product we are putting out on the streets," said Colin. "You would know an abused human walking down the street, and the same is for horses. Does this horse look abused?"
But Avella has further concerns about the horses once they leave the streets.
"The other aspect is -- and we're trying to find this out -- how many horses have died in the stables after being taken back off the route," Avella said.
"We think the numbers are huge."
This starkly contrasts drivers like Colin who says his horses have an 8-by-8 box stall lined with rubber mats, three inches of saw dust and are in great health.
"An outside veterinarian from Cornell (came) and he's found 97 percent of the horses are in perfect condition," said Colin, who calls his horse the "second love of his life."
"For me it's a labor of love and you can see here, we are not going to be living on 5th Avenue from the salary we make," Colin said. "But I just love working with horses … I just love it, it's my life."
Generally, the horses make about 15 to 20 trips around portions of Central Park and this can be their routine for up to 10 years.
"One of the conditions that affected me the most is that horses in NY don't have a pasture," Moss said. "They have no place to grace, roll, run or interact with other horses, and remember horses are herd animals."
If the ban goes into effect, Councilman Avella wants to send the horses to humane farms. Currently, the bill to ban horse-drawn carriages is now assigned to the consumer affairs office and is waiting for a hearing.
In the meantime, handsome cab rides will continue as a New York tradition.
For more information on how to adopt retired handsome cab horses, contact the Humane Society of New York at 212-752-4842.
August 24, 2008
NEW YORK -- A hallmark of New York City romanticism, handsome cab rides evoke images of fairytale endings. But these days, horses like 5-year old Beethoven are in the center of a heated animal rights' debate.
"They're standing in heavily congested traffic areas, nose to tail pipe of a bus," said Michelle Villagomez, senior manager of advocacy and campaigns at ASPCA. "The way the regulations stand right now, carriage horses can work up to nine hours a day, seven days a week."
But driver "Colin" says his horse Phoenix works no more than six hours a day on the street.
"He works a five day a week, Monday through Friday," said Colin, who only could be identified by first name. "It's pretty easy, not very strenous at all."
While the ASPCA contends the horses are working in extreme temperatures, a 27-year veteran carriage driver says it's not so.
"It's a-100 percent conformity on that law -- probably the only law in New York City that people conform to," said "Brenden," who also wished to be known void of a surname. "Like last week, we got a four day block where it exceeded 90 degrees Fahrenheit, so we didn't even bother coming to work."
The ASPCA is not opposed to horses pulling carriages for hire. Instead, they pushed for more humane working conditions, but the efforts languished in the city council.
"Being that the ASPCA is the primary enforcer of the carriage horse law," Villagomez said. "We realize we can't take the status quo anymore, that the ban becomes the next step."
New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg and the speaker of the city council Christine Quinn oppose the ban, saying it's essential to the tourism industry. Councilman Tony Avella, who introduced the ban, disagrees.
"Are you gonna tell me that some prospective tourist is not gonna come to New York because they can't get a ride on a carriage horse?" Avella said. "That's absurd. It belittles everything else New York has to offer."
Avella says horse-drawn carriages are a safety issue – and not just for the horses, but also for people.
"In the last year and a half there've been seven accidents, three horses have died and five people have been injured," said the District 19 councilman.
Some believe these accidents were caused by the horses being spooked, like documentary film maker Donny Moss.
"Horses are nervous, prey animals and they spook when exposed to stimuli," Moss said. "And you never know what's going to spook a horse."
But Moss' view of carriage horses as portrayed in his documentary "Blinders: The Truth Behind the Tradition," has inflamed the industry.
"I've seen it, gavel to gavel, and it's a very cleverly made, basically a piece of propaganda," said Brenden.
Colin was also familar with the protests against the handsome cabs.
"The people against our business are going to spread so much misinformation about our business," said Colin. "And, we feel, as an industry that it has just gone beyond free speech levels with these people."
The drivers contend the documentary presented a story line taken out of context.
"The difficulty is in the 21st century people cannot tell the difference between use and abuse," said Brenden.
While Colin contends the industry has nothing to hide.
"We are in the center of the world's eye, and everyone can see what we have, what sort of a product we are putting out on the streets," said Colin. "You would know an abused human walking down the street, and the same is for horses. Does this horse look abused?"
But Avella has further concerns about the horses once they leave the streets.
"The other aspect is -- and we're trying to find this out -- how many horses have died in the stables after being taken back off the route," Avella said.
"We think the numbers are huge."
This starkly contrasts drivers like Colin who says his horses have an 8-by-8 box stall lined with rubber mats, three inches of saw dust and are in great health.
"An outside veterinarian from Cornell (came) and he's found 97 percent of the horses are in perfect condition," said Colin, who calls his horse the "second love of his life."
"For me it's a labor of love and you can see here, we are not going to be living on 5th Avenue from the salary we make," Colin said. "But I just love working with horses … I just love it, it's my life."
Generally, the horses make about 15 to 20 trips around portions of Central Park and this can be their routine for up to 10 years.
"One of the conditions that affected me the most is that horses in NY don't have a pasture," Moss said. "They have no place to grace, roll, run or interact with other horses, and remember horses are herd animals."
If the ban goes into effect, Councilman Avella wants to send the horses to humane farms. Currently, the bill to ban horse-drawn carriages is now assigned to the consumer affairs office and is waiting for a hearing.
In the meantime, handsome cab rides will continue as a New York tradition.
For more information on how to adopt retired handsome cab horses, contact the Humane Society of New York at 212-752-4842.
