New York City - Sponsored by the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages, Heart for Animals and League of Humane Voters, a demonstration and press conference was held at Grand Army Plaza near Central Park. State Senator Tony Avella and Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal introduced a new bill to ban horse-drawn carriages in NYC. Our long time supporter and well known actress and Emmy award winner, Swoosie Kurtz joined the activists.

Activists around the world stood in solidarity on Horses Without Carriages International Day, a global day of action that takes place twice a year. Most recently, demonstrations and events were held on June 4, 2011 as part of ongoing local campaigns to shut down this inhumane, exploitative, and archaic industry.

Tireless activists joined forces on June 4, 2011, bringing attention to the plight of these exploited animals and engaging in educational outreach. In diverse settings and through creative means, activists reinforced HWCI’s commitment to ending this outdated, irrelevant, and dangerous industry.

Are you interested in getting involved with an HWCI campaign? Contact the city in which you are interested for more information on its activities, or contact HWCI at: nfo@horseswithoutcarriages.org. We hope you can join us for the next Horses Without Carriages International Day, in December 2011.

To see photos and descriptions of events from Horses Without Carriages International Day (2011 and earlier events), click here.

An excellent day of protest. and outreach in Austria, where 12 activists from Verien Gegan Tierfabriken (VGT, also known as the Association Against Animal Factories) gathered on June 4, 2011 on the main St. Stephan’s Square in Austria’s capital city, Vienna. We were delighted to get this report: “With banners, anti horse-drawn carriages T-shirts, costume horse heads and leaflets in nine different languages passers-by and tourists were able to learn about the suffering of the carriage horses. Activists also spoke through a megaphone in different languages about the conditions that the horses are made to endure.”

New this time was an excellent leaflet (from Liz at Verein Gegan Tierfabriken, or Association Against Animal Factories) with translations, we are told, in 9 languages! Paula reports to HWCI that “all the leaflets were distributed and, with a megaphone, we spoke in German and English….The weather was really hot and muggy, so people really sympathized with the horses. The response was really good.” Some activists sported plastic horse “heads,” a great way to spark interest and strike up a conversation with passers-by.   

Vienna, which has an active campaign to shut down the “fiaker” industry, has made headlines for some tragic reasons. Among them, a horse-spooking near-miss in 2011 and a fiaker horse who dropped dead as he pulled a carriage in 2009.

Activists in Rome had a wonderfully successful HWCI day in June 2011. A flash mob complete with demonstrators wearing horse head-type masks—caught the attention of passersby on the Via del Corso so that local residents and tourists alike could learn more about the campaign to end botticelle. The event went perfectly, Sarah May reported. We managed to speak to a lot of people about carriages and veganism, and overall we had a great response from the public. More people were with us than against us and we didn't have to use fear tactics or vulgarity to make a point. Special thanks to Anna Leyda Cavalli. View more video's from this protest.

The dedicated activists in Dublin had a very successful HWCI Day on June 4, 2011, queuing on Grafton Street and gathering signatures on a petition to ban horse-drawn carriages. We were really surprised to get so much support from passers-by, Bernie Wright of Alliance for Animal Rights (AFAR) reported. All but one person agreed with us and took our flyers, which were available at two horse carriage stands. The horse carriage stand was across the road but there was no interaction. Only one carriage was there at the one of two delegated stands in Dublin. So, a successful day in Dublin.

Dedicated activists in Philadelphia had a very successful HWCI Day on June 2011. A group of nine demonstrators came out, including at least one person who is very new to the campaign (and it was her second protest of any kind, ever!) This group gave out more than 200 leaflets and had many good conversations with passersby. Phil reported an encounter in which an individual came started out defensive but listened and became very receptive to the facts, once they were presented to her: “A tourist from Lancaster County first expressed her support to two HDC drivers, then came over to berate us.  She asked if we knew just how important horses were to Lancaster County, and I was able to respond with "Yes, I lived there for three years, next to an Amish farm."  She hadn't expected that response, and instantly became receptive to our line of reasoning. She didn't leave a believer, but the seeds of change were taking root.”

Philadelphia’s carriage industry has made headlinesthat underscore the danger of putting horses into traffic. In 2010, a car crashed into a carriage, causing a chain-reaction accident that left five people and five horses hurt.