The second day of the storm, Tuesday, was not much better than the first. The ASPCA and the Department of Health ignored our pleas and let the carriage drivers work. -- risking the horses, pedestrians and those who wait for emergency vehicles - How selfish and totally irresponsible. It was within their power - for public safety - to suspend the industry. They did not. These flimsy carriages are accidents waiting to happen -- and for all we know, there may have been accidents that did not get reported - that seems to be the way it often happens. Many of the side streets were not plowed. The main streets and cross walks were a mess. Such a frivolous trade should have been suspended at least for Tuesday. They were not because no one with any authority cares enough for the horses. No one is minding the store.

If anyone wants to know more about how the ASPCA is perceived by others who have a far greater reach then we do - please read Nathan Winograd's "It Was the Best of Times, it Was the Worst of Times." The ASPCA is an organization that had the best of intentions in the days of Henry Bergh, its founder, but now is hardly more than a shadow of its self -- not able to do the job of law enforcement, yet blaming every other agency when they are criticized. I say the City should drop them and contract out to have the job done properly -- and make the NYPD take on some if not most of this responsibility. The ASPCA may lack the will to do what is right for the animals, but they do know how to raise money - $30M from the Sarah McLaughlin commercial. Now there is a new one with legend Roberta Flack and her song "Killing them Softly" - it is sure to make you run to your check book. Watching either of these commercials gives the false impression that the ASPCA is out there on the streets saving all the emaciated, stray and injured animals.

This industry does not put New York City in a good light. The drivers are hardly the ambassadors they claim to be. But they are arrogant with good reason and they do what they want with impunity because no one is watching. One would think that with all of these able bodied men, they would have cleaned up the snow around the park so their carriage horses could get through more easily - but why bother? They still get ignorant people wanting to take a ride. But our efforts have not been in vain. We always manage to get to several people persuading them not to take a ride. The ASPCA officers were not there to monitor the horses who were clearly not getting a break, which by law is to be 15 minutes every two hours.

The Album Carriage Horse Congestion is on Facebook. If you have a facebook account, just log in and "Like" our page No Walk in the Park to view it. It will be on Youtube soon.

Advocates haven't stopped fighting for a ban, but in the meantime, the least we can do is ensure that the horses' lives have a better outcome than ending up on the kill floor of a slaughterhouse. Some of the proposed bills have included language for the "humane disposition" of horses. But while the industry vehemently opposes the electric cars and other horse-friendly amendments, the animals are vulnerable to being sold for slaughter. The Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages is now asking the City Council to consider just that section on disposition, with an amendment to the code which would require horse owners to sell or donate their horses to private individuals who will keep them as companions or to an animal sanctuary. Carriage horse drivers and owners repeatedly insist that their horses are well cared for and loved. Here's their chance to prove it. Anyone who cares about an animal wouldn't be willing to put her through the torturous trip across the border to a brutal slaughterhouse. So, there's no excuse for opposing a bill that ensures these horses get a humane retirement. City Council and New York City Carriage Horse Owners: This is your chance to show your compassionate side. The reality of racehorses ending their careers at the slaughterhouse soured a lot of people to that cruel industry. It's time to bring this dark side of the carriage horse industry out of the shadows. Ask New York City Council to save carriage horses from slaughter.

See our 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