Posted on 01/03/2014 6:42:52 AM PST by mandaladon
New York City’s brand-new mayor Bill de Blasio has an ambitious progressive agenda that includes tax increases, much talk about somehow crushing inequality and punishing “the elite.”
Two issues high on de Blasio’s agenda are the creation of more abortion clinics across the five boroughs and an outright ban on horse-drawn carriage rides in Central Park.
De Blasio’s animosity to the horse-drawn carriages runs deep, apparently.
“We are going to get rid of horse carriages, period,” he said at a news conference Monday, according to CNN. He added that he believes the tourist attraction — popular since 1858 — is inhumane and dangerous.
The new mayor, who took an oath of office on Wednesday administered by former President Bill Clinton, wants to replace the romance of horse-drawn carriages with the romance of antique-looking electric cars. (The carriage drivers would switch to these vehicles.)
The City Council must approve de Blasio’s carriage ban before it can take effect.
If the iconic horse-drawn carriages are banned, over 200 horses will be out of work.
The fate of those horses is not at all clear. It could be the slaughterhouse.
The United States already sends over 90,000 horses to Mexico and Canada to be killed each year.
“Horses that have jobs are the last horses that get neglected,” carriage driver Christina Hansen told the Daily News. “It’s the horses that don’t have jobs that we’re seeing shipped to slaughter.”
The price for sending the 200 carriage-carrying horses of Central Park to a shady pasture would be about $500,000 every year.
In addition to his dedication to eliminating horses that draw carriages, de Blasio, 52, is deeply committed to opening a slew of abortion clinics across New York City.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailycaller.com ...
The Central Park horses are seen by vets, farriers and equine dentists several times a year. Horses are not like lapdogs or cats … they like working, just like service dogs and sheep dogs do. It is not cruel to hitch a horse to a carriage and drive it at a leisurely pace around Central Park. Being stuck in a stall is no fun and hard on the horses. Horses that don’t have jobs often have psychological issues … they are meant to be more than mere lawn ornaments.
It would cost between $400-500 thousand A YEAR to care for the 200+ horses removed from the streets. Rather than do that, the small business owners involved will sell them. No, they are not going to rich, pre-teen girls in the Hamptons. They will be sold to the horse markets in Canada where they will be slaughtered and made into pet food.
New York City was built by horses. They did all the work cars and trucks do now. They died in the streets from overwork and were left where they dropped. It should be out of respect of the legacy they left that those remaining have a place of honor with people who understand, love and have formed a bond with them.
If humaneness is your chief concern, it would make more sense to shut down racetracks and outlaw thoroughbred racing. I’d hate to see that too, but it does make more sense.
PS: I live in rural Florida now. Sometimes the clatter the frogs make after a storm reminds me of the noise the steam-heated radiator made in my NYC pre-war apartment.
I have no problem with them pulling wagons. Every horse I’ve seen pulling a wagon in nyc looked sad. Rough coats, heads hanging, dull and sad.
Maybe its just the 20 or so that I’ve seen.
Tell ya what ... let me know the next time you’re going to New York City. A friend of mine is the owner of one the the four remaining horse stables in Manhattan. I’ll let her know you’re coming ... not only would she be more than happy to give you a tour of the barn so you can see their homes but she’ll probably throw in a free carriage ride around the park to boot. But it would have to be on a weekday because on weekends she’s busy with the free horse therapy classes she sponsors for disabled children.
If you’re on Facebook, maybe you’d like to check out some of the horse photos: https://www.facebook.com/#!/anita.mcgill.96/photos
And another friend’s husband is a carriage driver: https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Famous-Horse-Drawn-Carriages-of-Central-Park/143353929036608?id=143353929036608&sk=photos_stream
None of these horses look dull or sad.
This might be a better link ... lots of stable photos, work photos, therapy class photos, and photos of the new vacation farm they bought for the horses.
https://www.facebook.com/anita.mcgill.96/photos#!/anita.mcgill.96/photos_all
I was just reading something on Blue Star Equiculure’s page that you might find interesting, I did:
“In fact, the body posture of the carriage horses at work indicates their lack of stress. They are relaxed, as evidenced by their often cocked hind legs (NOT an indication of orthopedic problems as Donny Moss continues to believe), and lowered head positions while dozing – in fact, a stressed horse WOULD NOT sleep , while you see carriage horses napping all the time ....”
http://www.equiculture.org/nyc-position-statement.aspx
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