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As NYCLASS and other anti-carriage horse zealots crusade to "get rid of" the beloved horses of Central Park and promise that there are "waiting homes" for the horses who already have homes, media reports some of the harsh realities for sanctuaries already overburdened and struggling to keep their rescues and horses alive:
Major media is also reporting on the latest fiasco of our mayor pushing for a bill to shut down an entire industry, throw hundreds of middle class workers out of jobs and send the horses to an unknown fate:
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This is the one issue where both, human and animal welfare are on the same side of the coin and simultaneously under attack.
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A ban on the carriage horses of NYC would destroy the livelihoods of 300 hard working citizens from drivers to stable hands to blacksmiths, to farriers, to groomers to suppliers of oats, hay and even carrots. At the same time it would cast 220 horses who already have homes, security, care and love to the "horses needing home or rescue" pool -- a pool already unable to cope with and save 3,000 horses a week being trucked to Mexican and Canadian slaughterhouses.
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To add insult to injury, deBlasio tells horse carriage drivers they can have "new jobs" driving green cabs in and around the outer boroughs.
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Since when do politicians get to dictate to law abiding citizens what jobs they can or cannot do based upon personal prejudices and payback to those who helped put them in office?
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Isn't America supposed to be the land of the free? A country where people choose their professions and lines of legitimate work as opposed to having them dictated and ordered by government officials? This move by deBlasio to destroy jobs and dictate what disenfranchised workers should do sets new and dangerous precedent.
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Additionally, while Animal Control facilities may be legally able to seize animals that are actually being abused or neglected by owners, how does NYCLASS get away with claiming they have "waiting homes" for 220 owned horses for whom there is no consistent evidence of abuse or neglect? Who gave NYCLASS or Bill deBlasio (who apparently has never owned a pet) powers of animal control, seizure and humane law enforcement? Reality is, that even IF there were 220 "waiting homes" for carriage horses, that would simply mean 220 other horses going to slaughter for not having those same homes to go to. -- Call it a macabre game of "musical stables."
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One anti-carriage horse proponent has continuously written of carriage horses "disappearing" once they are retired, hinting at nefarious doings on the part of the owners. However, the reality is that those who give, sell, retire or adopt animals out are under no legal requirement to share the names of new owners with others -- especially those opposed to animal ownership in general.
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Carriage horses are currently identified by engraved numbers on their hooves. In all the years of scrutiny on carriage horses, only one horse has apparently been found at auction after new owners could not apparently afford. Microchipping of carriage horses might help to add additional safety net to this unlikely but unacceptable scenario. Currently, many of the carriage horses retire to Blue Star Equiculture https://www.facebook.com/equiculture.
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It is more than obvious that the mayor is suffering some delusions of grandeur and is clearly overstepping his bounds and abusing his power -- all apparently to pay back the rich real estate interests and radical animal rights zealots ("Any animal is better off dead than working with or for humans") that helped defeat his opponents and put him in office.
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New Yorkers who care about limiting the power of government to overstep bounds by destroying, changing and dictating livelihoods as well as robbing animals of responsible homes now depend upon our City Council to do the right thing and oppose Bill deBlasio's latest folly. The Daily News posted a list yesterday of all the city council members (and their phone numbers) who are so far "undecided" on the issue. (Enlarge the font to see clearer.)
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We all need to call our city council members with one simple message: "Kill the bill, not the horses."
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It would indeed be sad and lamentable to one day see our beautiful, majestic and human-loving carriage horses replaced with ugly "vintage cars," trucks and tour busses.
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New York City already has too much of the latter. -- PCA
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