AM-NY - June 1, 2007
As the weather heats up, my thoughts turn to concerns for the voiceless New
York City carriage horses.
Apart from everything else that seems deplorable about this business, I would
like to bring attention to one regulation in particular which seems to
illustrate the seeming impossibility of operating this industry humanely.
Supposedly, when the temperature reaches 90 degrees (not accounting for
humidity levels) the horses are to be driven back to their stables, unharnessed
and allowed to be driven back out when the temperature decreases. Their cramped
stables are located in various out-of-the-way buildings on the far West Side of
Manhattan, as far south as 38th Street.
When it reaches 90 degrees, these poor animals are forced to make undoubtedly
the worst trip of their day, pulling their carriages through some of the
heaviest traffic in the city, between Central Park South and their stables, only
to face making the dreaded round trip a second time when they are driven back
out. What is the sense in this?
-- Catherine Gore, Brooklyn
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