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By Mace Walgrave New York City is known for their iconic horse drawn carriages that are available to the public. They can be seen on the streets by passersby, in movies and on TV shows, and used as props on advertisements and brochures. I am here, in this blog, to say that this activity needs to be ban from the city of New York and any other metropolitan area that subjectifies any animals to this kind of trauma and stress. Close your eyes and think of an ideal environment for a horse. I’ll bet what came to mind was a spacious green pasture or a big barn full of yellow hay. What you probably didn’t imagine was a vast concrete jungle with some of the busiest streets in the world full. Carriage horses of NYC are in the constant company of startling noises, thousands of people, vehicles, cyclists, strange smells, and, in most cases, mistreatment by the hands of their “caretaker”. According to nyclass.org, a horse needs considered healthy when they have daily access daily access to open fields and/or pastures where they can freely graze, exercise, roll around, and interact with other horses. Veterinarians agree that these activities are needed for a horse to live a healthy life. The working horses of New York are completely stripped of these basic needs and necessities. Horse carriages thrive in NYC because the locals, and tourists alike, view them as an iconic product to the city. Below is a passage found in J.G. Merriam’s article that exposes the unnatural conditions that NYC’s carriage horses live in. To tourists visiting the buzzing city, carriage horses are breathtaking and unfamiliar. To NYC natives, such as cab drivers and commercial vehicles operators, carriage horses are seen as obstacles and a nuisance that lead to stopped or slowed traffic and hinderances to their tight, rushed schedules. “To vacationers, it hearkens back to a bucolic era when the pace was slower and signals the presence of a historic district or a revitalized downtown. To harried bus or truck drivers, it (they) is (are) an obstacle to be passed quickly; a hinderance to a regular schedule. To passing horsemen, it may pique interest but also wonderment as in ‘why on earth is it (he/she) here?” (J.G Merriam) It is a dangerous place for horses when they are placed under the same category as erratic drivers, construction, and potholes. Another point that needs to be addressed is what happens to these horses when they are considered “spent” and “worthless” and how an environment like NYC effects their wellbeing. As it naturally occurs, horses get older and slower. In an environment like a pasture, a horse could live up to 30 years. On the streets of NYC, it is over-crowded, polluted, and chaotic, so you can about imagine why their lives are cut drastically short. “Once a horse hits the streets of Manhattan, its life expectancy is cut in half” says Laura Eldridge. She also stated that a carriage horse’s retirement is usually much worse than the lives they lived. After suffering from injury, illness, or simply getting too old to work, carriage horses are sold to the highest bidder at kill-auctions and are sent to slaughter. The external environment that carriage horses are exposed to is the leading cause of carriage horse collapses and/or deaths. The city’s regulations state that horses must be returned to the stables if the temperature is exceeds 90°F or falls below 18°F. What fails to be taken into account is that the city’s pavement is, naturally, much hotter than the air temperature. This is often not recognized by the carriage operators and it causes the horses, who are subjugated to the ground indefinitely, to heat up much more quickly. In Holly Cheaver’s article, she states that hyperthermia, the condition of an abnormally high body temperature, is the leading cause of horse deaths in New York, Boston, and Atlanta. In this article, the U.S Weather Bureau revealed that the challenge with working horses in extreme heat is the temperature of a horse’s microenvironment, ground level to six feet off the pavement, which is significantly higher than the air temperature. Cheaver included a study from Cornell’s Urban Horticultural Institute which proved that the temperature at street level in New York City could be as great as 45° F hotter than what is recorded by the U.S. Weather Bureau. An incident was revealed in Katherine Hutchinson’s article Animal Law about a carriage horse that collapsed and died from heat exhaustion in August 2009. The outdoor temperature at the time was 97°F. The number of deaths per year of carriage horses was something that I could not find. What I found was that there are no regulations or rules in place that requires a carriage driver or owner to report horse illness, injury, or death. When a horse becomes injured or deemed “useless”, owners and drivers can freely dispose of the animal how and when they please without keeping a track record. Of course, there are other regulations that have been set up for the safety of the horses, but there are underlying issues that minimize the safety that these “rules” are supposed to protect. The regulations are not consistent, nor are they monitored to be sure that each and every NYC horse is properly cared for and employed safely. An inspector, on average, spends 25 minutes in each stable. A stable could house anywhere from 20 to 75 horses. So, in the smallest stable that is inspected, each is horse looked over for no more than a minute or two. In the time the inspector is there, he/she is not only looking at each individual horse, but also the facilities and the paperwork of ownership for said horse. This isn’t even including travel time between each stable. According to Huff Post, “investigators from the Comptroller’s office found that 42% of them had conflicting descriptions of the same horses, including age, color, breed, name and gender”. Therefore, it is questionable that each horse is independently looked over and not just merely glanced at or missed entirely for the sake of time. The state of New York is working towards a change. A legislation to diminish horse drawn carriages from the streets is being pushed but has yet to be passed. Advocacy groups are seeking to get horses out of the city completely, but they believe this won’t happen with a singular bill. They are starting with a small step forward and asking the city of New York to seclude the carriages to Central Park only, where motorized vehicles are prohibited. An issue that arises with this idea is that NYC will not fund a group of officers or security to make sure that carriage drivers will follow these rules. It is likely that even if new legislation is passed, it will be very easy for drivers to manipulate the system for the sake of potential profit that lies within the busy, vehicle ridden streets. Another move that animal welfare groups, and even NYC’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, have advocated towards is an electric powered, horseless carriage. A prototype was released in New York’s auto show and people loved it. The car is almost an identical replica of the turn-of-the-century brass carriages that once roamed the streets. According to Erin Durkin of NY Daily, the carriages could hold a maximum of eight tourists around Central Park at a top speed of 5 miles per hour. It would be controlled by a GPS that would hold still at 5 mph and, when sensed on the street, could go up to 30 mph. In conclusion, these horses are exposed to so many unnatural occurrences and conditions. The streets and crowdedness of New York city is no place for a horse. Not only do environmental exposures take a toll, but as does the neglect from the system that is in place to regulate living conditions for these horses, their handlers, and the general public. To help this cause, you can sign a petition to ban horse carriages in NYC by clicking here. Another easy way to stand up against horse carriages in New York is to avoid them at all costs. When you see a line of people waiting for the carriage rides, inform them of the harsh reality that these horses endure and encourage them to rethink how and where they are spending their money. Carriage rides exist and are profitable because the general public is left in the dark in regards to the conditions of this industry. Educating others is the gold mine of advocacy. ReferencesCruel and Inhumane Horse Drawn Carriages. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.nyclass.org/horse_drawn_carriages. Merriam, J. G. (1999, December 8). AVMA Animal Welfare Forum: Equine Welfare. Retrieved from https://ecfvg.avma.org/Files/ProductDownloads/1999_equine_welfare.pdf#page=31. Eldridge, L. (2011, May 25). The Harsh Reality for New York Carriage Horses. Retrieved from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-harsh-reality-for-new_b_575391. Vintage electric car that aims to replace horse carriages to make its debut. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.nyclass.org/ny_daily_news_vintage_electric_car_that_aims_to_replace_horse_carriages_to_make_its_debut. Sign the petition to ban horse carriages in NYC. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.nyclass.org/petition. Hutchinson, K. (2011, March 21). Animal Law. Retrieved from https://www.animallaw.info/sites/default/files/lralvol17_1_171.pdf. Author BioI am a junior at Minnesota State University, Mankato. I am currently double-majoring in psychology and human resource management. My hometown is Luverne, MN.
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