Thank you for posting this!!! My boyfriend lives right near Central Park and we walk by the horses on a regular basis. I have had many close calls in my car with them. We discussed how we both loathe the horse drawn carriage business due to the poor treatment of the horses and all morning, I was researching how to get active in our community to help stop this.This is a serious issue here in NYC and it definitely needs our full attention!

Thanks for posting this article to protect the horses. My rescue, HorseNet, in Maryland, helped rescue several horses from Baltimore City owned by the Arabbers - they pulled carts in town, and many had been abused. We also have several blind horses, including others that have pulled carts or become blind from abuse.
Info about our rescue is at www.hnhr.org

Dear Alicia:  thanks so much for keeping your readers informed about the carriage horses in NYC.  I very much appreciate your work on this issue.  Unfortunately, Mayor Bloomberg signed the bill into law last Tuesday, April 27th.  This was expected.  The bill is not harmful per se, but it is bogus and unfortunately the media bought the story about humane improvements for the horses.  It was really about a rate increase for the drivers.

However, several of us testified against the bill at the special hearing.  You can read more about it on our web site.  http://banhdc.org/

The two bills you mentioned above - Intro 86 and Intro 92 will hopefully be combined soon so we can all direct our attention to one bill.  We always knew this would not be easy and would take time.  But we are in it to win it.  The horses deserve much better than this.

Please contact me at coalition@banhdc.org  if you would like to receive our e-newsletter, which I send out every week or sometimes two.  It provides updates on the issue. 

We also have an international coalition called Horses Without Carriages International, which consists of organizations in such cities as Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Boston, Vienna, Rome, Dublin, Florence and Tel Aviv -all have active campaigns to ban this inhumane industry.  See http://horseswithoutcarriages.org/   June 5th is the international day of solidarity and we will be doing something in NYC.

Elizabeth Forel / Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages

hiya Alicia,

thanks for the posting. living in ireland i've contacted the two irish animal rights groups listed on the  website mentioned in Elizabeth's post above regarding the horses in dublin. hopefully the intro 92 bill will be successful in new york. i'll let you know how we get on in dublin.

done. I am a huge Bloomberg supporter but agree this has to stop. I have lived in NYC for 15 yrs and have NEVER taken a carriage ride-n or would I. Such a terrible trade.

I am disappointed in Mayor Bloomberg- I thought he had more horse sense than this!!

Done and done

What about the Amish and their use of horses?  Sometimes I wonder if they take care of them properly.

AMEN!!!!! I ALWAYS think that when I'm in that area!!!! YAY for bringing it up and mentioning it!!! I even get that feeling when I see dogs in a leash.....I don't know all the answers of the world but it just doesnt seem right even though I know that dogs get picked up from roaming and being hurt....ugh I just feel in an ideal world everyone would be free and animals can just be themselves amongst each other in contact with humans as they're meant to.......

Thank you Heather for bring up a valid point.  The amish are notoriously bad to their horses.  I work in the horse racing business and have found that selling a horse to the amish is equivalent to sentencing one to death... Unfortunately, horses are very expensive pets and many people take on ownership without understanding the weight (figurative and actual) of a horse.

What would be the best way to identify the e-mail if I follow the link to contacting Bloomberg that Alicia provided? Transportation? Environmental? Other?

Dear Alicia:
Thank yo so MUCH for bringing this up again. I had just written Elizabeth Folter an email regarding the bill that was just signed. The intro 35A WAS signed. This inhumane industry needs to be banned all over the world. Rome, Cozumel anywhere. It is inhumane how the drivers treat them, not giving them enough food, water, rest, love and care. If they treated them with respect, loved them and they had a decent stall instead of a dungeon to go to at night but they treat them like shit.
The traffic, the pollution, the cars, maybe the deaths from carriages being run into by cars and busses. It is an eyesore for New YOrk. I thought Mayor BLoomberg cared more. Write to him everybody. There is a link on Alicia's email. I have sent him emails, paper letters with pictures of the dead horses from the accidents. They need to hear from  you New Yorkers. Do it. Everyday, the horses need your help and then they need to go to a sanctuary where they can feel the sun and the wind on their face and run around in green pastures and be a horse instead of a slave!!!

Dear Alicia:
Now please help Tony the Tiger in Grosse Tete, LA right outside of Baton Rouge. I know you are doing your movie up in Shreveport which is a ways away but take a plane down to Grosse Tete.
BIg Cat Rescue is trying to rescue this poor caged 9 year old tiger who is a roadside attraction in a diesel truck stop. They gawk at him, they throw things at him. This beautiful majestic tiger is a spectable. He needs to go to a cat sanctuary. I have written letters to the City Council, Michael Sandlin who owns the truck stop (he has one of the old tigers that died and is stuffed above his desk. This poor tiger has no life. I became a Vegan because I love animals. See http://freetonythetiger.wordpress.com and you can see this sad story. Write letters to the City Council and the Mayor of Grosse Tete to get him released to the sanctuary in  Tampa.
He needs your help. Thank you animal lovers and that's why you are Vegan!! Follow him on Facebook. Let's write tons of letters and get him Outta there!  What a crappy life.
Cindy Wines
Animal Lover and Defender
www.EarthandAnimalwellness.com

Before humans "tamed" horses, they would run for miles and miles at a time. To see them now, confined to a small carriage and used to pull humans around is just sad. Sure they were great for getting around in the 1800s there's no need to torture these majestic animals anymore. Let them go free. I'm glad Toronto doesn't have horse drawn carriages.

People still go one these "rides" though. That's the sad part. There is always someone willing to pay for this cruelty and as long as there is some sort of demand there will be supply. We'd have to educate the public as well as get congress to sign those bills.

As for Tony the tiger, he's beautiful and seeing him in that tiny cage, bored out of his mind, makes me angry and disgusted. I hope he gets into the sanctuary as soon as possible.

They look so sad.....poor babies. I signed the petition.