Is Mayor De Blasio an animal rights activist?

[MoonRiver]

I'm hopeful that he is due to his commitment to end the cruel practice of horse carriages in NYC. Btw, the ASPCA and other groups have promised to find homes/sanctuary for the hopefully soon to be retired horses.

[shenmue]

1. He could be. I hope he is.

Go Mayor!

[MoonRiver]

2. I'm watching his inauguration speech right now.

So impressive!!

[LiberalElite]

3. I think you can

be for ending the horse drawn carriage industry without being a full-fledged animal rights activist. I do hope he ends it one way or another. We could be in for an ugly fight though.

[MoonRiver]

4. Maybe, but he is clearly adamant about ending it.

As an activist myself, I can sense and understand the passion.

[LiberalElite]

5. I'm an activist too

just waiting and seeing...

[MoonRiver]

7. Me too. I was wondering if anybody had more information about his positions in this area.

Happy to connect with another "voice for the voiceless."

[LiberalElite]

8. de Blasio has mentioned

replacing the carriages with electric cars but they don't exist at this time. If he sticks to that, it could be an obstacle. See this website for more info: www.banhdc.org

[flvegan]

12. He's pro-adoption and anti puppy mill.

http://www.billdeblasio.com/issues/humane-city

And then there's NYCLASS.

I don't know if I'd term him "animal rights" more "animal welfare" but it is a positive step.

[LoveIsNow]

6. What makes them so cruel?

Do the horses get scared of the lights and cars?

[MoonRiver]

9. ASPCA website, among other animal rights organizations, has a lot of information about it.

:http://www.aspca.org/fight-cruelty/equine-cruelty

[LoveIsNow]

13. Wow, I never realized they could bolt into traffic.

I bet you would find a significant reduction in life expectancy.

[LiberalElite]

10. Yes and also noise! Horses

are very sensitive to their environment and spook easily - and without warning. There have been numerous incidents in which a horse just took off dragging the carriage, slamming into trees, or ending up on top of a taxi. There have been injuries (to humans too) and some horses had to be put down on site.

These horses come to the NYC carriage trade after being bought at auction. They have had working lives on Amish farms and in the racetrack. As such some already have injuries and chronic conditions like arthritis when they end up pulling carriages containing several humans around Central Park and elsewhere in midtown Manhattan (which is illegal). They develop respiratory illnesses from being in traffic all day. They're out in all kinds of weather, 9 hours a day 7 days a week. There are laws regulatinig their treatment but they're enforced inconsistently if at all. The horses housed in firetrap stables in too-small stalls on the far west side of Manhattan when not working.

As far as danger to humans besides the possibility of a horse suddenly spooking - often drivers also pay little heed to traffic laws - they text while operating the carriage, turn around and talk to the passengers while operating the carriage, read magazines while operating the carriage, etc., etc.. They don't need a driver's license to operate the carriage. The carriages are fitted with a kind of license plate but the plate is often deliberately obscured with paint.

BTW, these carriages didn't "always" exist. While the industry apologists would characterize it as this venerable time-honored "tradition" dating back more than a hundred years, the carriage horse industry as it is now was instituted in the 1940's under Mayor O'Dwyer.

There's a documentary on the inhumane NYC carriage horse industry: Blinders. http://www.blindersthemovie.com/. Also,

This Youtube link is of an interview with Donny Moss, the producer of Blinders.

IMHO this industry (which is actually very small) is a 19th century anachronism. There's plenty of other things to do in NYC. Many tourists are also against horse-drawn carriages.

[hrmjustin]

11. I hope that he goes through with his plan to get rid of the carriages.