Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages

Joy Askew  - January 30, 2009      

My name is Joy Askew, and I live in New York City.   I am with the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages and I am here to speak in support of INTRO 658, the bill that would BAN them.    

Rules & regulations around this industry are like the weather—everyone talks about them, but no one does anything about them.    

From extreme temperatures …. to fares … to where the horses can work … the Administrative Code lays down the law.    

And that is where enforcement ends, for the most part.    

For example, carriage horses are NOT to be worked whenever AIR TEMPERATURE is 90 degrees Fahrenheit or above—as measured solely by the ASPCA.    

U-turns are ILLEGAL. Horses must NOT be worked in heavy rain.

Carriage horses shall not be driven at a pace FASTER than a trot.

On certain days and times of the year, horses can be working around Rockefeller Center and Times Square. On other days and times, they cannot.

BUT…all of that is largely irrelevant, because generally there is NO ONE IN AUTHORITY to ticket the drivers when they are out of area!

The Parks Department, among other entities, can issue summonses for failure to comply with industry regulations.

But the PARKS DEPARTMENT is a virtual non-entity in enforcing these laws.

It was just about ONE month ago that the ASPCA finally had something more to say about this. It said:

"Neither the New York City environment NOR the current law provides horses with the fundamental necessities to ensure their safety and well-being."     

So, where does that leave the horses?     

Working through snow and ice storms and sub-freezing temperatures in the winter…AND hours on end in the summertime on steamy asphalt, … where street-level temperatures can reach 200-degrees Fahrenheit.     

When a young horse named Clancy died about a year ago at Clinton Park Stables, the ASPCA was forced to file a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain the veterinary records.       

Neither the letter nor the spirit of the law is upheld.

I SUPPORT A FULL BAN ON HORSE-DRAWN CARRIAGES IN THE CITY

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