Carriage Industry Has No Honor
To The Editor:
Re the April 22 editorial (“Ban Horse Carriages; Keep Citi Bikes”) and a May 7 Letter to The Editor from Shirley Secunda, chairperson, Community Board 2 Traffic and Transportation Committee:
How Shirley Secunda can call herself an “animal rights activist” and then defend the abuse and enslavement of the NYC carriage horses is truly astounding. Who is enforcing all these “regulations” she refers to, which are inadequate and mostly ignored? When it was the ASPCA, for instance, humane officers would suspend the hack line when it reached 90 degrees (humidity not taken into consideration) and order the drivers to take their horses back to the stable. There is no provision in the law on how to lift a suspension, so the drivers would wait until one of their sources claimed it now read 89.9 degrees — and they were back on the hack line. Activists have seen this sort of thing happen many times.
I watched a horse (Flash) collapse from exhaustion in December 2011, as the horses are often overworked and double-shifted during holidays. There is nothing sadder than seeing such a majestic animal lying on the filthy NYC streets, and the other drivers going by with their loads of passengers, not even stopping to help, because their fares are more important than a fallen horse.
Just recently, a driver was caught altering a hoof brand to make a 22-year-old horse with a breathing ailment appear to be a healthier 12-year-old horse. And the older horse, Caesar, (since “sold”) was also being illegally worked during the time he was supposed to be on the mandated five-week “vacation.”
There is nothing right or honorable about this industry. It doesn’t need to be replaced with anything. It needs to be banned, now.
Teresa D’Amico
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