This seems a little goofy to me. Kristen Johnston and PETA say horse drawn carriage rides are cruel. I think if you make your living with a horse and carriage, you'd treat your horse pretty good. I don't even pretend to understand horses, but, I used to have a bunch of them and most of 'em loved pulling things and having riders. Am I wrong? We had one mare that hated it all, but, I just ignored her, she was a rescue and best left alone. The PETA website said they aren't allowed to run free in a pasture. Seems to me that's called a city horse. Pastures might be overrated, I think, maybe..because I had one pony who hated the pasture. He hung out in the barn by the desk and chewed on the phone cord all day. To each his own, but, I think they could find better things to bitch about. Maybe my horses were retarded, but, I know at least half of them would have been perfectly happy in NYC pulling carriages.
26 comments:
i fucking hate PETA. -G
Is that horse made of chocolate?
She needs to get off that poor animal's back.
I mean, what does she think it is?
A horse?
...and, while we're on the subject:
Water buffalo and mules should NOT be made to pull a plow.
It is cruel.
Better the poor, third world family of eight should starve than be so cruel.
I tell ya, it makes me so mad I...I...I just can't pee!
I know nothing about horses and I despise PETA. I do feel sorry for all those donkeys in Tijuana.
I think I said this on this website before, but a few years ago my then-boyfriend took me on a Carriage Ride in Chattanooga for Valentine's Day. I asked the driver if it was cruel making the horses trot around the block all day...wouldn't they be happier in a field? She told me all the horses that do that in Chattanooga were rescued from becoming Alpo. So, I guess it could be better for them, but it could be worse!
What is this, a high school blog?
The carriage horses in NYC are indeed treated poorly, as a audit by the Comptroller of the City of New York found in 2007. It is available online and also was the topic of various stories by the New York Times (Google "New York Times audit carriage horse" or "city audit carriage horse" to read accounts.) These horses, many of them broken down race horses who are too small for this work, must travel up to 4 miles a day in heavy traffic to and from their dirty, cramped, multistory stables in Hell's Kitchen (as far south as W. 37th Street, near the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel). This horrible trek is where many of the accidents occur, including the gruesome one that in 2006 killed Spotty. These horses have inadequate water, poor and infrequent veterinary care, and no turnout--not good for these very social creatures. They can't even scratch an itch and don't have proper stalls that might offer them a respite. As for the comment that the horses in Chattanooga (my hometown) were saved from slaughter, that is perverse logic and reflects a lack of critical thinking. These NYC carriage horses, like other horses, are sent to slaughter. In fact, a Freedom of Information request can provide you with a list of the horses working in the NYC carriage industry, and if you take a look you will see that horses "disappear" from the rolls after an average of 4 years. Yes, NYC carriage horses, such as Lilly O'Reilly, have been rescued from slaughter. They generally are in a dreadful condition, as you might imagine. Most NYC visitors who see these horses on the hack line are horrified at the condition of the horses and their hooves, the pigeon droppings in the horses' feed, and absence of water, the lack of shade in searing hot temperatures and high humidity. The asphalt can reach 200 degrees Fahrenheit, as a city study found--and these horses live a nose-to-tailpipe existence, suffering both from the heat as well as the exhaust. Hoof disease and laminitis are common from working on pavement, and lameness is commonly observed in these horses, many of whom have lung disease (as equine vets have pointed out). Stand on Central Park South for 5 minutes and count the number of U-turns that the drivers make, in front of tour buses, taxis, and cars.
It's not really a humorous topic at all. This "tradition" does not belong in New York City. Check out "Blinders" documentary at www.blindersthemovie.com, or visit YouTube and search for New York City carriage horses--and see the videos of the horses in traffic, with fire engines and noise from helicopters. Go ahead. Educate yourselves.
Oh for the love of fuck...REALLY?
Peta are a bunch of freaks and deserve to be put in a pile & nuked.
Show the same passion fo rthe little bastard homeless kid living next to the horse.
Welcome to the world. This is how it goes. Some try to help, some don't - it can't be summed up on a fucking Blog.
The Blog is just for amusement & for the Blogger to make her opinions known. You can agree or disagree but this is not really the place to get all high & mighty.
Have I ever been offended or offended someone on here. More than likely. I've gotten into it a few times but that's cuz I'm stupid & don't learn quickly.
I'd go on but my carriage just arrived.
Ahh...life is good...
Air Kisses
Nellyboy
LOL thats exactly what went through my mind too crabbie, that the horse looked like chocolate! But it's a great pic of her.
lol @ 4:33 and just can't pee.
9:09 informative post,ty, thanks for taking the time to write it.
The horses in NYC were restricted to Central Park during the part of the day when temperature is the highest and traffic is heaviest. The city council decreed that a number of years ago. The only place I've seen them on the street during the day is just in front of the Plaza Hotel while waiting for a fare. Yes, there accidents involving horses from time to time, due to these idiot New York cab drivers, who think they are driving in beautiful downtown Calcutta, will run over a horse, a person, a flock of school children or a pigeon, it doesn't matter to them as long as they are the first one to the red light on the next corner.
Oh, and btw, these people involved with peta [lower case intended] are people with too much money and too much time on their hands and just want to ease their conscience by 'helping'. As for the leadership, they are basically entrepreneurs who have found a way to make a good living off of guilt-ridden individuals with money.
its a pity that you guys won't actually listen to people who try to alert you to actual animal cruelty (as anon 9.09 did). if you think that people do terrible things to each other, and you MUST believe that cause otherwise WHY do you go on and on about jolie/pitt etc? so WHY do you turn you backs in disbelief when PETA trys to alert you guys to animal cruelty? ANIMALS CAN'T T A L K. GET IT??? sorry! i try to stay out of these PETA slanging matches because i know i am outnumbered and no one will even TRY to comprehend what gets done to animals (cause you like eating them too much) or what PETA is up against. but sometimes your shit gets too much for me.
I didn't mean for this post to be humorous..I care about animals. I'm just saying we all don't live an ideal life, but, as long as we're fed and have shelter and someone who cares and treats us decent, it doesn't matter where we live.
And, Lia, you're sweet, your heart is good, and because of you and people like you, I have made some changes in my life. But, not because of PETA.
ok, so horses in New York are treated badly.
That is despictable and something needs to change.
But carriage horses elsewhere are living a good life - and like always PETA does not discriminate between horses that are abused and horses that are treated well.
Must be the fumes from all the pet gassing.
How about the old firehouse horses of the old days? Was that mistreatment? Are Police Drug sniffing dogs being mistreated by being trained to search for drugs? How about seeing eye dogs? Should they have to work & help a blind person "see"? What about watchdogs in factorys etc? Should they be working all night? Shouldn't they be sleeping? We have carriages in Indianapolis also. They are beautiful to see, esp around the holidays. And when you see a bride & groom in one. It's a very special & not cheap luxury. It reminds you of old movies & slower times, a nicer, gentler time. And unlike Kramer, we don't feed them extra large cans of chili with beans!
No, they are not treated well. Just like the animals in a circus are not treated well. I love PETA. They speak for those who can not speak for themselves. How would you like to be hooked up to a carriage and dragging around all that weight in the freezing cold and the blistering heat??
I think peta lost the thread somewhere along the line. They started out well meaning (and still are) but their dramatic and extreme antics go against them. There is no common sense middle ground with many of them now.
I am all for (and active in several) animal welfare organizations, but won't support some of the extreme attention seeking stunts peta pulls. It's the wrong kind of attention and defeats the purpose.
anon 2:07 it might be a surprise for you but horses don't mind freezing cold. They can stay outside all year long in pretty harsh climates. Same is true for hotness. If they have time to adapt (and they are 'shaved' at the end of winter), they don't mind heat much.
Mistreatment is bad. But PETA is a bunch of lying, animal murdering assholes.
anon 2:07 it might be a surprise for you but horses don't mind freezing cold. They can stay outside all year long in pretty harsh climates. Same is true for hotness. If they have time to adapt (and they are 'shaved' at the end of winter), they don't mind heat much.
Mistreatment is bad. But PETA is a bunch of lying, animal murdering assholes.
Anon 2:37: I am a member of PETA and I can assure you that I am not an animal murdering asshole. You would probably think I am an asshole because I prefer to put my efforts toward saving animals and advocating for them. That is your right. I'm sure I'd love you, too.
wow, you are supporting an organization that acively murders pets and that wants to ban all kinds of breeding - even to save endangered species.
You might want to rethink your membership. There are organizations who:
don't murder animals
don't try to make children hate their moms
don't support terrorists
and still advocate animal rights.
PeTA's founder wants all animal testing for medical reasons to stop.
She's on insulin, which happens to come from cattle.
Hypocrisy--the PeTA way.
We have NEVER been cited for cruelty in over 150 yrs. We have 5 stables, 2 of which are state of the art. All of our horses in nyc have box stalls. (which the mounted police horses dont even have)They get ferrier care, worming, and dental and vet care on a schedualed basis…which is all recorded for the city. We are overseen by 5 agencies (we have more regulations and oversight than at-risk children). We have temp restrictions, and hr work restrctions which are overseen by the aspca. We send our horses to vacations on farms 3-4 months out of each yr. When our horses are retired they are adopted out through one of 3 adoption programs we use. We are licensed 4 times over (carriage, driver, horse,and stable) We are fully insured. Our horses were trained specifically for this job… PETA is really good at lying to people. their intentions are evil. They want to do away with all human to animal relationships. ALL of them including pets. Its disgusting. Whats even more disgusting is that people like Kristen Johnston (who dont know anything about horses in the first place) are halping them!
If you want the TRUTH you can see my videos on youtube of my horses on my farm and in their stable in nyc and at work. This is the TRUTH. I can prove everything I say….they cant! Please take a look before you believe everything they say.
http://www.youtube.com/user/peeba76
All the PETAards should just disappear from the face of the earth, no animals, no civilization, go back to ancient times, wear nothing and freeze to death, because they can't stand fur. I agree that some horses are treated cruely, but it's a way of life, why don't they rescue all the Irabs and Iraqes, they deserve some attention, too. PETA's full of bullshit, they're just afraid they'll enter a bad Karma once they turn into chickens or horses.
Someone needs to protect us from the PETA people. Serious whack jobs! They are more detrimental to the human psyche than anyone is to an animal.
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