In NYC, PETA, Curtis Sliwa Call For Change After Lady, Carriage Horse On City Streets, Dies While Hauling Heavy Carriage

In NYC, PETA, Curtis Sliwa Call For Change After Lady, Carriage Horse On City Streets, Dies While Hauling Heavy Carriage

Editor’s note: PETA and other animal rights organizations have long advised tourists and city residents to avoid using carriage horses altogether, as when the demand drops off, so too will the companies providing the service.   There are many providers of bicycle-drawn carriages that tourists and others seeking a pleasant ride through the park can utilize instead of participating in the horse-drawn carriage industry, which in many cases seems to work their horses to death.  In contrast to the care received by the Salvation Army’s rescued thoroughbred Hank, who visits Times Square in the winter months to ring his bell and take people’s hats, carriage horses are clearly abused.  Hank was found as a foal on the side of the road, discarded from the horse racing industry that had bred him. You can also see PETA’s most recent protest at the Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest at Nathan’s Famous on Coney Island in Brooklyn. 

Please find a statement from PETA Director Ashley Byrne in response to the Central Park Conservancy’s announcement that they are calling for a ban on horse-drawn carriages and support Ryder’s Law:

 

“The Central Park Conservancy’s call for the passage of Ryder’s Law is now in tandem with everyone but the cruel and greedy carriage operators who work horses to death. New York City residents and visitors have complained for years that their visits to Central Park are ruined by the miserable spectacle of horses who are often lame, emaciated, or ill and bending under the weight of heavy carriages in stifling heat and frigid cold. The all-too-common incidents of spooked horses running through the park, colliding with vehicles, and dying in the streets threaten everyone’s safety. It’s time to pass Ryder’s Law and put this dangerous industry out to pasture.”

We asked the following question of PETA: Do you have a number of carriage horses that have died in NYC, either this year or last year?  Or if there are other instances of cruelty that you can share? 

Their response: We unfortunately don’t have numbers from the last couple years, but I’ve attached information from before that. Please note that when a horse dies under shady circumstances behind the scenes, they often just ‘disappear’ off the records, so the records are far from complete. Please do see our list of incidents: https://www.peta.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/HDC_Incidents_Factsheet_JO.pdf.

Please see the following statement by PETA Director Ashley Byrne, specifically regarding the question about specific incidents:

Since Ryder collapsed in the street and later died, a proposed bill to ban horse-drawn carriages has lingered in the New York City Council for three years, blocked by Speaker Adrienne Adams and Health Committee Chair Lynn Schulman. Meanwhile, disturbing incidents continue to pile up, including Lady’s sudden death, a horse named Blackjack dying suddenly in his stall, a lame former carriage horse named Bernard being rescued on the way to slaughter, a horse named Paddy being hit by an SUV, a horse named Gunnar being injured in a collision with parked cars, and several horses spooking and running through New York City streets and through Central Park. Horses will continue to collapse, bolt, collide with cars, and be sent to a gruesome fate by callous carriage owners until the city bans this cruel industry.

 

New York — Just days after a horse named Lady collapsed and died on the streets of Hell’s Kitchen while being forced to haul a heavy carriage, PETA has erected a sky-high message above the site of her death featuring a grim reminder of the reality of horse-drawn carriages—an image of her lifeless body sprawled on the pavement.

 

The death of Lady—who witnesses reported fell to the ground shaking—recently prompted dozens of New Yorkers to rally for the passage of Ryder’s Law, named after another horse who also collapsed on the streets. The proposed law, which would ban horse-drawn carriages and replace them with eco-friendly electric vehicles, came after video footage of Ryder lying on Ninth Avenue went viral, and reports that his driver slapped him, whipped him, and screamed at him to get up sparked outrage. Ryder died just weeks later—and his driver faced no penalty.

More than 140,000 PETA supporters have urged New York City Council Member and Committee on Health Chair Lynn Schulman to protect horses by holding a hearing to advance Ryder’s Law.

 

“How many overworked horses need to suffer and drop dead on the streets of New York before this shameful cruelty is banned?” asks PETA Director Ashley Byrne. “PETA is calling on Council Member Schulman to put Ryder’s Law to a vote without further delay and help shut down the vile horse-drawn carriage trade before any more horses die.”

 

PETA notes that horses can startle easily, yet those in the carriage industry are subjected to a near-constant barrage of noise from jackhammers, car horns, and other loud city activity. Horses forced to haul carriages every day in extreme weather and harsh conditions—inhaling exhaust fumes and pounding the hard pavement—can develop respiratory ailments and debilitating injuries. Impatient and careless drivers have also caused multiple incidents in which carriages have been hit, injuring and killing both horses and humans.

 

PETA’s billboard is located at the intersection of 51st Street and 11th Avenue in New York—just blocks from the Clinton Street stables where Lady lived.

 

Below you can find a statement from PETA Director Ashley Byrne in response to the horse-drawn carriage industry’s news release blaming the death of the horse “Lady,” who collapsed and died on Tuesday, on a small tumor in her adrenal gland. PETA points out that symptoms of such tumors include exercise intolerance, abnormal heart rhythms, coughing, and swelling in the limbs or under the chest. Lady likely exhibited symptoms, either visibly or internally, but the horse-drawn carriage industry continues to disregard the welfare of horses it forces to pull rides up and down city streets. 

 

“This horse’s tumor didn’t develop overnight, but instead of receiving proper medical care, which could have detected the tumor and possibly prevented her death, she was forced to haul heavy carriages while breathing pollutant-filled air in a highly stressful environment that likely exacerbated her poor health. Her death is further proof that the horse-drawn carriage industry operates with little to no oversight, and PETA is calling for a ban on horse-drawn carriages before any more animals collapse and die in the street.”

The following was released by Curtis Sliwa, Mayoral Candidate, regarding this: 

Banner Image: Horses pulling carriage. Image Credit – Megan Lee