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HORSE SENSE
Periodic updates about issues and actions concerning New York City's Carriage Horses +
Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages
www.banhdc.org
Horses Without Carriages International
www.horseswithoutcarriages.org
PLEASE FORWARD TO LISTS, FRIENDS & COLLEAGUES ** NYC event ** Shamrock Stable ** child dies in carriage accident ** Rome cruelty
HORSES WITHOUT CARRIAGES EVENT - NYC
June 5, 2010
NYC is part of the global initiative and international coalition called Horses Without Carriages International, which we started a few years ago. We had an excellent turnout yesterday and although hot and humid, it did not rain. Council Member Melissa Mark Viverito joined us to talk about her bill, Intro 86. Channel 11, Channel 5 and WCBS 88 radio picked this up.
Cities participating included Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Boston, Montreal, Victoria British Columbia, Dublin, Rome and Vienna. Please check our web site in a few days to see what these cities did. Horses Without Carriages International.
CM MELISSA MARK VIVERITO JOINS US
Intro 86 to be combined with Intro 92
Council Member Mark Viverito joined the press conference yesterday to talk about her bill Intro 86, which will phase out the carriage industry over three years, replacing the horses with classic electric cars. She spoke about combining the section of Intro 92, which deals with humane disposition of horses, with Intro 86. The Council Member joined us as she was coming from the Central Park area and remarked how the carriage wheels are causing ruts in the streets.
PLEASE TAKE THIS ACTION: CM Viverito has asked that you contact your council member and ask that they sign on to Intro 86. Snail mail letters are preferred and please write to their district office. Click here for the Council page.
TONY AWARD ACTRESS SWOOSIE KURTZ JOINS OUR PROTEST
a great advocate for the horses
Swoosie Kurtz is one of those very accomplished actresses whose name is not always recognizable but has a long body of work including the very popular TV series Sisters, which included George Clooney. Swoosie was refreshingly down to earth and protested with us, carrying posters and talking to the media. Big thanks to her for her time! She was the best!!
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WHAT'S NEW WITH SHAMROCK STABLE?
eviction day is tomorrow, June 7th.
Ian McKeever, one of the owners, was plying his trade yesterday, working his horse and carriage. I told him outright that if he needed to place any of the horses, I would get people in touch with him - no questions asked. This was a stab in the dark because it has been a given for years that the industry does not give horses to anything that resembles a horse advocate and they are particularly wary now. They actually have enough connections of their own. Besides, McKeever is not going out of business, which is no surprise because he owns several medallions and the drivers just got a rate increase.
I hope that the ASPCA will keep their eye on all of the stables to see that there is no overcrowding -- and to find out where the horses go so they can be monitored.
The media is not interested in this issue, but we will try to find out more as the week progresses.
ROME: BASTION OF CULTURE
cruelty behind the scenes
Rome is part of Horses Without Carriages International. Recently I was sent pictures of their stables. Please take a look at this blog and the pictures. This information needs to get out to tourists who will flood Rome this summer.
FOUR YEAR OLD GIRL DIES - HIT BY CARRIAGE
horses spook and run her over
School Girl Dies - 6/2/10 - Chronical Journal -
Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada:
The Thunder Bay coroner's office is investigating the death of a four-year-old girl who was hit by a horse-drawn carriage at Fort William Historical Park on Monday.
Willow Scott-Hannam was on a field trip with her Hyde Park School kindergarten class when the incident happened at 11:35 a.m.
It was reported that the children stopped to pet a couple of horses tied to a wagon.
"The horses got startled and, I guess, started running or whatever and the wheel went over Willow's body," a friend of the family, Judy Suseklis, said on Tuesday.
Willow was taken to hospital with serious injuries.
Two four-year-old boys were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Willow was flown to the Winnipeg Health Sciences Centre for further treatment on Monday.
Cathi Siemieniuk, Lakehead Public Schools director of education, said the girl died early Tuesday morning.
Siemieniuk said students and staff are "in shock" over the accident.
The school board is providing support to students, staff and parents, she said.
"We have a tragic events team made up of administrators and staff that" are helping students and teachers, said Siemieniuk. Continued...
HORSES ARE UNWITTING WEAPONS
At 1,200 to 1,800 pounds, horses are unwitting weapons and a formidable force with which to be reckoned -- or so one would think. Horses are predictably unpredictable and in the middle of a congested city even more so. It is an unknown where the next loud noise or startling incident will come from and spook a horse - then all hell breaks loose. In the last 4 1/2 years since we have been keeping close tabs on this industry, at least four small children have died and several adults -- all because of spooked horses.
The governing bodies in most cities are generally behind the times and the opposite of being creative, innovative or progressive. They try to please so many people or at least those with the big bucks that they fail to see what is best for the city and community they represent. Horse-drawn carriages are accidents waiting to happen. Who will take the responsibility for it when a very serious accident happens in NYC?
JOIN US ON FACE BOOK & SIGN ONLINE PETITION
"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.
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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.
Please DONATE
to our campaign to ban
the inhumane and unsafe carriage horse industry.
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