Pink's upset and speaking out about the treatment of horses by carriage ride people in NYC. She says the poor horses have to walk on concrete all day and breathe car fumes.
Rep for NYC carriage horses: "They have specialized shoes for concrete, and we haven't had one animal cruelty violation from the three agencies that oversee us. A true 'Stupid Girl' is one who talks publicly about something she knows nothing about."
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Geez, they don't have to get so nasty..she's just a person who likes horses, though she should have done her homework. We all think it would be nice if horses were only seen in green pastures, but, that's not the way it is. We should be glad they aren't being mistreated and seem to like their jobs. Some animals live in cities, it's just a fact. There are worse people to fight all over the world.
12 comments:
These horses are warehoused in multi-story buildings with no room to lay down. They go from cramped stalls, to the confinement of the carriage shafts, to cramped stalls, to the carriage shafts. That's their lives. This is NO WAY for any animal to ever have to live. Period.
Horses pulling carriages in the congested streets of midtown Manhattan - what a joke! I read that these horses don't even have a place in NYC to graze, which means they have no freedom of movement at all.
Those are not specialized shoes, they are traditional iron horse shoes which retain heat from pavement that reaches 200 degrees from underground cables in summer. NYC heat and humidity, noises, traffic and stable conditions are all cruel to the horses. Drivers force the horses to stand in water subjecting them to viruses like thrush and hoof rot. Shameful industry!
Clearly, Dirty Disher needs to do some homework. Having horses in the city is inviting injury and death. And those horses suffer from hoof and leg problems...so clearly their li'l horse sneakers don't do a very good job. And just last September we learned that the city wasn't overseeing the industry as it was supposed to in the Comptroller's audit. The ASPCA has one (yes, one) officer who is supposed to monitor, what, 220 horses, 68 of whom can legally be on the street at any given time, around to see that they are treated well, yet the horses are forced to work in miserable weather extremes. Remember the nasty winter storm in mid-December? They were out there slipping in the streets and dodging traffic and their water troughs were empty the entire weekend - minus some garbage.
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NYC Horses do not belong in NYC traffic in NYC streets. It is unsafe for them and for the public. There are no special shoes and in fact shoes decrease the shock absorption by 30%. The industry is run on profit by the care of the horses. The horses are not properly maintained. The NYC Audit report stated that the agencies rely on the industry to "self-regulated". It is false that the police or ASPCA responds to complaints. I called the ASPCA and their office is closed at 6pm and I called the police and the operator said they do not respond and I have to call the ASPCA. I ASPCA is not obligated to see these horses and their lack of presence reflects their non-obligation. This industry reflects poorly on us and the city. Have a heart and feel the injustice. BE brave and stand up to this cruelty. This industry tactics are insults and lies. This is how they lasted so long in NYC streets, but the horses don't last. They suffer, slaughter and replaced. People treat their cars better than these horses.
Please call Mayor Bloomberg and support the ban. For human sake, let’s speak up for what is just.
How shameful that in the year 2008 there are still some of us who would justify or excuse animal abuse.
It doesn't take an expert to realize that the life of a NYC carriage horse is one of misery.
Their daily existence is one of forced discomfort and a lack of everything natural to a horse.
Those of us who do know something about horses are even more appalled that the carriage horse industry is allowed to stay in business at all.
There is no excuse for forcing these horses to suffer on a daily basis for a frivolous tourist attraction. Enough is enough. It's time for all of us to accept reality--the days of horse-drawn carriages in NYC are over, so let's permanently put this industry out to pasture.
Special shoes, this is ludicrous! These "special shoes" don't prevent lameness, or heat absorption from asphalt nor electrocution. Filthy stalls, NO turnout time, hard whippings, violation, bribery, corruption. 4 months a year in pasture? Let's see proof of that one. Most go to auction sold for slaughter after they cart tourists around for horsemeat. No rest for the weary. I support PINK 100%. She knows much more than the horse driver's PR rep they pay tons of $$ to talk their walk!
Pink is right--the horses are abused and mistreated and this has been going on far too long. The owners and drivers only care about making money; they don't give a damn about the horses and lie when they say they do.
I rode in a carriage ride once in Chattanooga, and I expressed that I thought it was sad that those horses had to be slaves. The "driver" or whatever they're called told me that those horses had been rescued from becoming Alpo...that they had been really sick and puny when they found them. I guess that's good that they rescued them, but still sad that they're carrying people around town all day long. I'm sure the air in Chattanooga's a lot different than it is in New York, though....
Regarding the slaughter issue - Holly Cheever, world renowned equine vet and expert on the carriage industry recently posted on a blog: "As an equine veterinarian who first started inspecting these horses in the late '80's, I wholeheartedly support Pink's campaign to educate the public to boycott this tourist attraction. For the naive individual who stated that the horses would be "glue" if it were not for the carriage horse operators, the horses were purchased from "killer" sales in order for the owners to get a few more dollars out of them in their remaining months/years, and then they will be right back to the killer sales for the last few sheckels that can be wrung out of their bones and hides. Were you really so ignorant as to think that the horses would be humanely euthanized and buried respectfully on some farm when there is a last bit of profit to be made??? Also, the police horses are entirely different--their use and care and stabling are all infinitely more humane. As for your criticism of the artist, frankly the rest of the country wonders why the h*** you New Yorkers seem to require celebrities to get you to focus on anything, rather than listening to experts. At least Pink is 100% accurate in her estimation of this industry and its abuse of its equine victims."
You people are all either ill-informed or liars. Either way your wrong. We dont purchase our horses from killers, we get them from amish farms. All of the stables have box stalls for the horses to lie down. Those "wharehouses" you are talking about are multimillion dollar buildings with state of the art facilities. The horses work 5-6 days a week have time restrictions, and weather restrictions. The shoes she is talking about have boreum so there is no slipping and a pad with gel inside for shock absorbancy. These horses get at least 4 months on a farm every year, and we love them. They get vet care constantly by us and the city, we are overseen by 5 different agencies. Automatic waterers, as much hay as they want, plenty of bedding, fans that have water misters on them in the summer...Also, we do not send our horses to the butcher when we retire them. We use MANY different adoption programs that have been set up for working horses. Also, some of the owners keep their horses after retirement. wouldnt you want to if you spent 9 hours a day with your horse?!We have never, in over 1oo yrs of service, had an animal cruelty charge leveled against us. And, as for Holly Cheever-The former head of veterinary medicine at Cornell Unv taught her and has inspected our stables last week, stating that they are of Olympic standard! So all of you liars and slanderers can go f yourselves. You WILL be stopped. What you are doing to us is not legal. We love our horses and will NEVER give up the fight!
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