WORSE THAN EVER FOR NYC CARRIAGE HORSES! ASPCA Not enforcing rules and high fiving carriage drivers!!!!

December 23, 2008

If I didn't know better (heavy sarcasm here), I would think the ASPCA in NYC is on the take with the deadly horse drawn carriage industry. Contact info to the city council and Mayor Bloomberg at bottom. Pity the poor horses!!!

3-57/121-December 19, 2008

HORSE SENSE Weekly updates about issues and actions concerning New York City's Carriage Horses

Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages www.banhdc.org

CARRIAGE HORSES IN ICE & SNOW STORM ASPCA: a disgrace to Henry Bergh's name

HANDSHAKES & HIGH FIVES. It was snowing in NYC this morning and it was very icy. BY LAW - Carriages Horse are not supposed to be out during adverse weather conditions, which include snow and ice. I called the ASPCA this morning about 10:00 AM and was assured that the horses were not working. Donny Moss, the producer and director of Blinders: the Truth Behind the Tradition, was on Central Park South taking video. The ASPCA lied - they were working! Donny sent this e-mail to ASPCA President Ed Sayres and others this evening: Dear Ed: I'm writing on behalf of the carriage horse who slipped on the ice and fell into a split this morning on 59th St. Why did the ASPCA allow the carriage drivers to leave the stables this morning when we all knew that a major winter storm was about to blanket NYC with snow and ice?

At about 9:00 a.m., the agent who answered your HLE hotline told me that the drivers would be sent in when the weather turned. As you know, the long trip back to the "stables" through midtown during a wet and icy winter storm is treacherous. The horses should ever have left this morning. But they did, and I videotaped it so that people can see the cruelty taking place on your

watch:

At 11:50 a.m. during the height of the storm, I saw the HLE officer greeting carriage drivers with handshakes and high fives. Shouldn't he have been reprimanding them for continuing to pick up passengers almost two hours into the storm?

In spite of the best efforts of many activists, conditions for the carriage horses are worse now than they've ever been before. Because the ASPCA has been entrusted with protecting these animals, you have a duty to at the very least minimize the abuse and publicly call for a ban. Until you do, the ASPCA isn't preventing cruelty to animals. You are enabling it. Donny Moss

HORSES DEPRIVED OF WATER water troughs dry; breaks for the horses? what breaks!

From November through March, the two water troughs in Central Park are turned off to prevent the pipes from freezing. Horses require a lot of water, particularly when they are working but these horses unfortunately have to wing it. Some of the drivers carry water -

most do not. Sometimes one trough is filled up - but mostly not. I reported this to the ASPCA - for December 6th and this past Sunday, December 14th. Although I wrote directly to Mr. Sayres - no one responded. I also notified the Department of Health and was told that the drivers carry water and that the horses have breaks -- this according to what they were told by the industry representative. It would be funny if it were not so sad. Unfortunately, it is business as usual. The water trough off Sixth Avenue is always bone dry. It is pictured above. The one closer to Grand Army Plaza is pictured below and is shown with little more than a puddle with a carriage horse trying his best to negotiate a drink, which is little more than a few laps of his tongue. The horses were also being worked constantly to accommodate the tourists. By law they are supposed to get a 15 minute break every two hours. But since there is no one there to monitor and tourists are willing to part with their money, it is not likely to happen.

We called the ASPCA on Sunday - just before 4 PM via a private cell phone number and was told that a Humane Law Officer would come in an hour because they were "filming". Filming? !!! What -- Animal Planet?!!!! X% & *(##$ We needed to leave so we do not know if any of the Keystone cops ever arrived. I hope they were not in makeup.

WAIT: THERE'S MORE! the drivers are overcharging

Please take a look at these two videos on Youtube posted by an activist. They show consistent overcharging - particularly now that it is the holiday season. The going rate is $34 for 20 minutes. There is no sales tax.Yet the drivers ask for a tax from

unsuspecting tourists. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSun_1Ly6ro & feature=channel The second video ... well, I will let you be the judge. It includes offensive language - so beware. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbZR4FZZQRM & feature=channel

WHAT CAN YOU DO? not much unfortunately - since it like talking to a wall

No one in authority cares about the horses - that is painfully clear -- not the ASPCA -- not the Agencies charged with their oversight - -and certainly not the City Council with few exceptions. But regardless - please make these calls and send the e-mails. We do know that no action on our part results in no action being taken. So please keep the faith.

Ed Sayres - President ASPCA - 212-876-7700. There are many things to say to Mr. Sayres but most of them are not printable. First off, you can ask him to resign if he is not able to do the job. If that does not work - then ask him to take an active stance for Intro 658 - the bill to ban horse-drawn carriages. You can also tell him that the image of one of his HLE officers high-fiving a carriage driver gives the appearance of impropriety - like they are in cahoots. Hmmmm. The ASPCA has NEVER made a public statement in support of the bill.

Call your Council Member until they get so sick of you and they will not accept your calls. Click here to get to the Council web site for contact information. Ask them to do their job and stand up for the horses -- to back Intro 658. Send them this newsletter.

Contact Mayor Bloomberg through his web site to register your outrage that he allows this horse and buggy trade to continue operating in NYC and turns a blind eye to the cruelty. Tell him that this industry is an embarrassment to the city

Forward this e-mail and ask others to take action

Please sign our online petition if you have not already done so regardless of where you live. We have about 35,000 signatures now, which include paper petitions.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead.

email: coalition

web: http://www.banhdc.org

Thank you for caring about the horses, Elizabeth Forel - Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages - a standing committee of The Coalition for New York City Animals, Inc.