27 May 2007 - Vol. # 30
Saturday *
Volunteering *
Toronto supports us *
R Rools 4 Fools *
Boston
A NOTE ABOUT SATURDAY
the good and the bad
Saturday
was an an inspiring and hopeful day. From the moment we began to set
up our table, we were overtaken with people who wanted to sign our
petition to ban the industry ... not only from NYC , but from states
like California, Florida, Virginia and Louisiana and countries like
England, Ireland, Canada, Germany, Israel and France. Many people
told us that they had horses and it was very distressing to see how
depressed and tired the carriage horses looked; how they do not
understand why NYC still allows horses to work in such a crowded and
smog filled environment. We got pages and pages of signatures, sold
several t-shirts and actually sold out our buttons.
Apologies to the horses because it is not their fault - but
Saturday was so hot and humid that the smell of horse waste on
Central Park South was overwhelming. In a more compassionate and
intelligent world, these horses would be in a grass filled pasture -
well taken care of and groomed everyday, with their stalls mucked
out. It is beyond my understanding how the people who live on this
high priced boulevard -- or those who dine in the outdoor
restaurants - put up with this. In plain English -- it stinks!
The carriage drivers often just hang around waiting for
passengers. But Saturday had tour buses unloading tourists on
Central Park South - providing passengers for carriage rides. The
buses pull into the hack line and discharge not only passengers but
harmful diesel exhaust fumes. We wonder if money is changing hands.
There are so many other things to see when one gets off the bus at
this location -- a few blocks to the finest shopping and restaurants
in NYC; an actual amusement park right in Central Park; or just a
walk through the park to appreciate its beauty.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
Tabling on Sunday, June 3rd
Note
Day Change - The weather is great and the horses need your help. The
Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages needs volunteers to help get
signatures on petitions to the Mayor and City Council -- and to hold
posters. This is not a demonstration but an educational event. It is
an excellent opportunity to help the horses and to see how
supportive both tourists and New Yorkers are. You can volunteer for
one hour or four. We need to know when you will be there so we are
sure to have coverage. Please contact Teresa at verush@aol.com
if you can volunteer.
WHEN: Sunday, June 3rd, 2007 WHERE: midtown -
information will be given to volunteers. TIME: 1-5 PM
TORONTO HUMANE
SOCIETY SUPPORTS OUR CAUSE
thank you Toronto
We
love Tim Trow and his organization, the Toronto Humane Society. He
gets it! Why? ... because he successfully worked on ridding Toronto
of the carriage horse trade in the 1970s and wants to see it end in
NYC. He knows how inhumane it is for the horse slaves who are in
this industry. He is our role model. Please read a new section on
their
web site in which, as president of this progressive
organization, he invites people to support our cause.
From their web site: "Attention 'Non'-New Yorkers! This
topic was started on April 27, 2007. Help the carriage horses of
Manhattan and the courageous people of New York who are fighting for
them. New York carriage horses toil in traffic, in all four seasons,
and this is done to them in our name as potential tourists. We owe
it to the horses to speak up. We need New York's authorities to know
that these carriage horse do not make us want to come to New York,
instead they make us sad."
R ROOLS 4 FOOLS?
we think not.......
Carriage
drivers in NYC are not required to have a NYS drivers license.
Instead, applicants are given a book with the rules of the road
and are required to take a written test administered by the
Department of Health. A carriage driving test is not a requirement.
They must do only a five-day apprenticeship with a driver who then
completes the Affidavit Recommending an Applicant for A Horse Drawn
Carriage License. That's all it take. Outrageous? Yes - but here's
the rub? Just what rules of the road are they required to
observe?
Answer: Apparently not the NYS cell phone law, which states: "No
person shall operate a motor vehicle while using a mobile telephone
to engage in a call while a vehicle is in motion." The operative
words here are "motor vehicle," which the carriage is not. On many
occasions, we have seen drivers on hand held cell phones engaged in
conversation while they are driving their carriage. We have also
seen them stand up while driving and turn around to take pictures of
their passengers - all while the carriage is moving. The horse-drawn
carriage operator's manual states "The driver should never allow
his attention to be distracted. The horse's ears, or some change in
his gait, may give forewarning of shying, kicking or balking" -
but this appears to be a suggestion, not a law. The photo above
shows a driver talking on a cell phone while standing and operating
his carriage.
The NYS law banning hand-held cell phones for drivers of motor
vehicles is an intelligent and thoughtful law. In 1997, the New
England Journal of Medicine published the
Association between Cellular-Telephone Calls and Motor Vehicle
Collisions. The report concluded that "the use of cellular
telephones in motor vehicles is associated with a quadrupling of the
risk of a collision during the brief period of a call." The
Safe.NY
website asks motor vehicle drivers to use common sense because
any task a driver performs while driving is a potential distraction.
We have tried to get to the bottom of this with marginal success.
"Cell phones" are apparently not mentioned with respect to drivers
of horse-drawn carriages in any of the laws we have reviewed. It
remains a gray area. Section 4-12 - Miscellaneous - of the Traffic
Rules from the Department of Transportation's web site states: "A
person riding or leading a horse or driving a horse drawn carriage
shall have the reins in his or her hand continuously" The
operative word is "hand" and could be construed to mean that it is
legal for a driver to hold the reins in one hand while talking on a
cell phone with the other? Since horse carriages operate in heavy
NYC traffic, drivers should be required to obey the same laws that
apply to motor vehicle drivers.
BOSTON TAKE NOTICE
carriage industry not welcome
Carriage
horses in Boston are not treated any better than those in NYC. We
know one former Boston carriage horse quite well - he is the
ambassador of good will to horses - Ambassador Montague - or Monty
for short. Monty is a clear picture of the typical suffering of
carriage horses. The black marks on Monty's nose and sides of his
jaw are permanent scars -- skin where the white hair shafts wore
away from sweat and a bridle that was too tight for too long. Read
Monty's story.
A recent poll in the
Boston Herald asked the question "Should horse-drawn
carriages be banned in Boston?" The results revealed that 60%
voted YES - "Horses should be kept free from city duty and only work
in country settings." Only 40% voted NO "Keep the horses and
carriages in Boston. The carriage operators are regulated and that
should be enough to keep the horses safe." It is clear to us that
people are becoming more sophisticated about the "rules" regulating
the carriage industry and recognize that many are simply impossible
to enforce ... and that this is an inherently inhumane industry that
has no place in modern day cities.
"If we see cruelty or wrong that we have the power to stop,
and do nothing, we make ourselves sharers in the guilt." -Black
Beauty - London, 1877
| Thank you for caring about the horses, Elizabeth
Forel - Coalition for NYC Animals, Inc. for the
Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages |
