Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages

NY SUN (not published)   
4/6/08

More Horseplay from Carriage Industry A new report commissioned by the Horse and Carriage Association, on the health of the horses in whom it has a vested business interest, borders on the ludicrous. Had veterinarian John Lowe spent more than mere hours with these horses, and observed them on the streets facing the environment they endure daily, Lowe might have come to the same conclusion that Friends of Animals did long ago: There is no way for the horse and carriage trade to operate humanely in New York City. The situation for the horses is so dire that the ASPCA, traditionally an inspection unit and advocate of regulation, recently came out in support of Council Member Tony Avella's pending bill to ban the industry. Constant pavement pounding, traffic and exhaust fumes and infinite fear-provoking noises all make the industry indefensible. The New York City Comptroller's own audit on the carriage industry revealed many of these problems, and noted the difficulties posed to the agencies expected to monitor the health of the horses. The recent arrest of Cornelius Byrne, a stable owner busted for bribing an investigator, sheds some light unto the unscrupulous conduct in this industry. Byrne was caught switching identification numbers on horses, and in fact accrued seven violations before this attempted bribery. With this, plus a long list of tragic accidents, human injuries and horse deaths, it's long past time that Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council put this industry out to pasture.

 Edita Birnkrant - NYC Campaign Coordinator, Friends of Animals

To honor
Bobby II Freedom
previously known as Billy
ID# 2873 rescued by the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages and Equine Advocates on June 25, 2010 from the New Holland auctions.

In memory of
Lilly Rose O'Reilly
previously known
as Dada ID# 2711
R.I.P.August, 2007