Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages

TWO CARRIAGE HORSE BILLS INTRODUCED INTO  NY CITY COUNCIL    
March, 2010   

Intro 92, the bill to ban horse-drawn carriages in its entirety, was introduced into the City Council, Consumer Affairs Committee on March 3rd.  The sponsor is Council Member Annabel Palma.  This  is the former CM Tony Avella bill, Intro 658.    

The important part of this bill is that it creates a new section 17-330, which covers disposition of the carriage horses.  Underlined text is new; text in brackets is removed.  Prior to this, Section 329 allowed for a huge loophole in which horses sold outside NYC, as most are, could go to auction.  

§ 17-3[29]30  Disposition  of  licensed  horse.  a. The department shall be notified of the transfer of ownership or other disposition of a licensed horse within [ten] five days thereafter. Such notice shall include the date of disposition and [if sold in New York city,] the name and address of the buyer or other transferee and such other information as the commissioner may prescribe.

b. A horse shall not be sold or disposed of except in a humane manner, which, for the purposes of this subchapter shall mean one of the following:

1.  The owner shall sell or donate the horse to a private individual who signs an assurance that the horse will not be sold and shall be kept solely as a companion animal and not employed in another horse-drawn carriage business or as a work horse and will be cared for humanely for the remainder of the horse's natural life; or

2.  The owner shall sell or donate the horse to a duly incorporated animal sanctuary or duly incorporated animal protection organization whose president or executive director signs an assurance that the horse will not be sold and shall be kept solely as a companion animal and not employed in another horse-drawn carriage business and will be cared for humanely for the remainder of the horse's natural life.

c.  Records indicating the name, address and telephone number of the private individual, duly incorporated animal sanctuary or duly incorporated animal protection organization to whom the horse was sold or donated together with the assurance specified above shall be sent by the owner to the department within five days after such sale or donation.  A copy of such record shall also be maintained at the stable. 

 
Intro 86 -would  replace horse drawn carriages with alternative fuel powered classic cars  was also  introduced into the City Council, Consumer Affairs Committee on March 3rd.  The sponsor is Council Member Melissa Mark Viverito.   

We are not opposed to retro cars in theory, but the big problem with this bill is that it leaves Section § 17-329 intact and does not address what will happen to the carriage horses.

We feel that these two bill should easily be joined as one if the two sponsors were willing to do so.  

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