5-37/223- October 3, 2010
 
 

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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 ** Jane-Velez speaks out for carriage horses ** how donations are used ** carriage horse problems

JOIN JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL
at our fund raising party tomorrow, October 4th - 6-9PM
Jane Valez-Mitchell Wow - it is almost here -- our party is tomorrow - and we hope you will come to support the carriage horses. Please buy your ticket now to support our ongoing campaign to ban the horse-drawn carriage industry and meet our special guest, Jane Velez-Mitchell from HLN, who is speaking out against this inhumane trade. Jane has been a terrific advocate for animals on her show "Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell" and we are thrilled that she is supporting this cause.

Susan Wagner from Equine Advocates will update us about Bobby II Freedom and Donny Moss will tell us about his new campaign. We are delighted to have as our musical performers Joy Askew and Joni Paladin. And if we are lucky, former Council Member Tony Avella, who is super busy running for state senate, and Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito, sponsor of Intro 86-A, the bill to put an end to all of this inhumanity - will be able to come to our event. Both have demanding calendars.

Please click here for the actual invitation, which has more information. If paying online, just click on "make a donation" and put in the total amount under Unit Price Your name will be put on the list, which will be at the door.

HOW YOUR DONATIONS ARE USED
a brief explanation
Valentine's Day ad We very much appreciate every dollar that is donated by you to the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages. When you make a contribution, you should feel confident that it will be put to good use in our campaign. For those of you who do not know, we started this coalition in early 2006. We are all volunteer and we pay no salaries. 100% of your donations go into the organization. The end of 2005 marked many years of no advocacy for carriage horses in NYC. In early 2006, we changed that. We have educated the media, politicians and the public on this issue and are very proud of the work we have done to put this on the radar screens. We realize the industry is institutionalized and that it is difficult to make changes. But we also know that if we give up, we are sure to fail. That is why we have every intention to stick with this cause.

Among other things, our monthly operating expenses include the fee for this newsletter and an ad that runs on Google. Recently we spent almost $1,500 to rescue Bobby. We could have paid the entire expense, but Friends of Animals wanted to split it with us. We always want to be in a position to pay for a carriage horse rescue. Our expenses also include maintaining two websites - www.banhdc.org and www.horseswithoutcarriages.org, web site design, fees for lobbying; government filing fees for various administrative papers, posters, flyers, copying expenses, graphic design. We have also made donations to horse rescues and sanctuaries. We are a 501(c) 4 and a registered lobby group.

Our biggest expense is advertising. In 2008, we ran an ad in one of the tourist magazines for six months that cost about $16,000 - and this was at reduced rates. We had saved up for 2 1/2 years in order to do this. In late 2008, with little money left, we commissioned a $3,000 ad to run the following February in the same magazine. The ad, pictured here was intended to target tourists who want to take a ride on Valentine's Day. We are now thinking of placing another ad in the same magazine to target the holiday crowd. November through the end of December attracts the most tourists to this trade. We have managed to be very frugal and get things donated when we can. Although your contributions certainly allow us to continue our work, what keeps us going and makes us effective are the people involved -- the motivation, intelligence, knowledge, creativity, persistence, intense interest and focus on this issue. That is priceless.

TWO HORSE TALES
but the drivers loooooove their horses
bad hoof There are people all over NYC who pay attention to the carriage horses. In this day of video and still cameras, not too much gets by without being noticed. The other morning, I received some pictures taken by a colleague of two different horses with issues. The first one appeared to have something wrong with one of his back hooves as you can see in the picture. The second horse was wearing blinders that actually were taped so the horse could hardly see.

HORSE IS VIRTUALLY BLINDFOLDED
blinders taped Said my colleague This horse was wearing blinders that had additional tape on them. He had to hold his head up high to see anything at all. the driver said the owner of the 38th street stables put his visors like that because "he spooks easily", and then got angry because I took the photo.

ASPCA IS CONTACTED
hoof close up Many of the horses working in the industry are barely making it and often look like they are on their last legs. But because the industry is "legal" the horses cannot just be taken off the street unless there is a real problem. There even has to be probable cause to examine them. The ASPCA veterinarian examined both of these horses and concluded this:

Regarding the horse with the odd looking hoof -- There is a chronic inactive (non-painful) swelling of the tendon sheath in this fetlock that is abnormal in appearance but at this time is not causing any lameness. She examined this horse in the stable, watching him walk and trot and palpated and flexed the limb in question. While she did not conclude that the horse was lame, she instructed the owner to have this horse shod. She also said that she has seen this resting pose in a horses before but agreed that it looked abnormal.

The horse owner who uses tape on the blinders of the bridle was warned and admonished that this is not a standard practice. These horses come from two different stables.

IF YOU SEE ANYTHING THAT YOU THINK IS ODD OR WRONG
contact us
We will continue to monitor these two horses. If you see anything you think needs attention, please contact us at coalitionbanhdc@gmail.com. Our main e-mail coalition@banhdc.org is currently not active.

"I DIDN'T REALIZE"
one of our goals is to educate tourists
tatoo I often get e-mails through our web site from people who say they agree with us. It is encouraging. They far outnumber the cranks. Last week, i received a very nice e-mail from a woman who lives in Ohio. The subject line read "I didn't realize." This is it:

Hello -- have been reading things online about NYC's horse-drawn carriages and I am appalled. My two daughters and I took a carriage ride in Central Park in May when I visited NYC. It was something I had always wanted to do! Now I am ashamed that we did it. I foolishly thought that the horses were well-treated and had pastures! I had no idea they spent their time either on the street or in a cramped, boring stall. I will NEVER go on a carriage ride again!

That's what we like to hear!

JOIN US ON FACE BOOK & SIGN ONLINE PETITION
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We also have a new Facebook page called No Walk in the Park. And while you are there, please join another anti carriage horse page by a colleague called 212HorsePower

"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.

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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