News & Announcements
Santos L. - January 30, 2009
My
name is Santos L. and I am the founder of NYC Animal
Rights. We support Council Member Avella’s bill, Intro 658, to
ban the carriage industry. I’d like to offer testimony
today in opposition to Intro 653-A – focusing on only two points
because of the time limit.
This bill appears
to be a mixture of many different issues from rate increases to stable
inspections. It is ill advised. It states that a
carriage horse shall not be younger than five years of age nor older
than 20 years at time of purchase. But it says nothing about the
age at which a horse can be retired. As long as a horse can still
drag a carriage, he or she can be worked until they are in their
30s. This is wrong.
Another part of the
bill has to do with the water made available for the horses. For
years, the industry ignored the fact that the two troughs in Central
Park get turned off during the winter months and it is very difficult
for many of the horses to be watered. One of the troughs is
consistently filled with garbage and the water in the other is
filthy. Any good veterinarian will tell you that communal water
troughs are a veterinary nightmare and an enormous source of disease
transmission for the horses– yet another reason why this industry needs
to be shut down.
This bill states that
all public water troughs should now be provided with the necessary
piping and fixtures to make water available year round. Nice
thought – but who is going to pay for it – the City of NY?
Mayor
Bloomberg has asked all city agencies to reduce their budgets and some
workers have already been laid off. So why such favored
treatment for a private and highly controversial industry ?
If the industry cared so much for their horses as they profess to, they should pay for this themselves.
Coalition To Ban
Horse-Drawn Carriages
A Committee of the Coalition For New York City Animals, Inc.
Contact:
The Coalition for
NYC Animals, Inc.
P.O. Box 20247
Park West Station
New York, NY 10025
e-mail
Coalition@banhdc.org