UPDATE
We have some "pending" issues that are in the preliminary stage so I was not going to write a newsletter this week - looking forward to a break. But then I came upon something that I had never heard of and wanted to share it with you. Nurse Mare Foals. An unnecessary evil. Read about it below.
House keeping request. I am very happy if some of you want to repost certain articles that I write. But please give us credit. Whether from the newsletter or the blog below, the source would be the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages with our web site: www.banhdc.org
Forwarding this newsletter: The danger comes when you forward it to several people at once and use the forward e-mail key. You MUST delete your e-mail address at the bottom of the e-mail and the word "unsubscribe." What happens is that you may forward to someone who is not interested and they will just assume they can use this unsubscribe button. The problem is that they are unsubscribing you and you will have to resubscribe - I cannot just add your name.
If you are on Facebook, please join No Walk in the Park - by "liking it". You can also join our Cause and our Group.. Please feel free to comment and add any appropriate pictures.
NURSE MARE FOALS
an unnecessary evil
CARRIAGE HORSES - NYC - blog -The other day I received an e-mail about 15 new foals who had just arrived at a sanctuary and were in desperate need of homes. Huh, says I - why so many? Where did they come from? Who is breeding these animals and not taking any responsibility for them? I am totally confused. So I started digging and this is what I found. Just when you think it is "safe to go back into the water" another atrocity strikes.
Known as "nurse mare foals," these orphaned babies are the throwaway by-product of a cynical industry that leases out lactating mares - their mothers - to nurse foals other than their own. Their own foals are taken from them between one day and one week of age. These foals are either killed, sent to slaughter or rescued. Some are also skinned and their hides used for high end leather products - soft like a baby's skin.
Why does this evil practice even exist you ask? Here is why: A mare who is prized as a race horse can immediately return to work as a show horse or racehorse after giving birth to her own foal. Instead, her baby is nursed by the nursing mares who are leased out. A prized mare can also be bred again if she does not have to be involved with nursing her own foal. She, of course, does not have a choice. It is all about money and elitism. It is wrong.
The only way to stop this evil is for the racing industry and others who do this to allow their mares to nurse and wean their own young for as long as it takes. CONTINUED - click here. Please read more on the blog about the "homeless horse crisis" and what we can do about it.
SAVING THEM ONE AT A TIME
If we're lucky - sometimes that's all we can do
Recently i had a conversation with someone who questioned my caring about one particular carriage horse - hoping that he could be rescued. This person felt that focusing on one was wrong. I disagree. That is what this issue is about - the individual horse - multiplied by how ever many there are in this business. It is about knowing that horse and seeing his eyes communing with you. It is about understanding what makes them tick. This is not about yelling at the drivers in a case of one upmanship. And it is not about a vanity electric car business. It is about the horses - saving them however we can and continuing to point out the injustices. It is virtually impossible for animal protection organizations or activists to ever rescue a carriage horse who is no longer wanted. We learned that when we negotiated to get King, only to be shut out at the end. The industry does not want people like us to have former carriage horses because their ailments and behavior will come under scrutiny. This is a very important thing to realize because when certain Rescues make deals with the carriage industry, they essentially sign nondisclosure confidentiality agreements. Yes, being saved is certainly good for that individual horse -- but it is not good for exposing the issue. Fortunately, when we rescued Bobby II Freedom, we did not have any of those restrictions. He is pictured here. Susan Wagner, president of Equine Advocates,.was part of the rescue and Bobby lives at their sanctuary. She has been able to talk about his lame leg, his scars and wormy belly. See the NY Times article here.
I recently came upon this poignant short story: An old man walked on a shore littered with thousands of starfish, beached and drying up after a storm. A young man was picking them up and flinging them back into the ocean. "Why do you bother?" the old man scoffed. "You are not saving enough to make a difference." The young man picked up another starfish and sent it spinning back to the water. "Made a difference to that one," he said. -Author Unknown
VIEW OUR OLD NEWSLETTERS
on our web site
If you missed a newsletter, you can access them by going to our web site under newsletters. Click here.
VOLUNTEER WITH US
tabling to start soon
We will soon begin our tabling efforts near the hack line. The purpose will be to hand out literature to educate the public about the horse-drawn carriage industry and why a ban is the only solution. It will most likely be on a Saturday afternoon. If you are interested, please contact Paola, our volunteer coordinator, at volunteerforthecoalition@gmail.com.
We find that when we do this kind of work, we reach many more people than when we have a demonstration. Demonstrations are fine but certainly not the only tool in the campaign box. Pedestrians generally feel more comfortable coming up to the table and speaking with us. We know that we have easily persuaded many, many people from taking a ride and we look forward to doing this again soon.
Over the years that we have asked people to sign petitions, we have amassed almost 70,000 signatures combining online and on paper -- people from all 50 states and over 55 countries. This is something we have used as a tool to campaign for a ban.
PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION - IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY DONE SO
We have surpassed our goal of 2,500 signatures
This petition is directly related to our blog about what happens to the carriage horses NOW. Please click here to sign it if you have not done so already.
The City Council has been non responsive to the issue of preventing the carriage horses from going to the slaughter auctions. They apparently do not care if the carriage horses die on the job or later at the slaughter house. They are our publicly financed legislators.
For those of you who have not signed this petition, this is a synopsis: THE PROBLEM: There are over 200 horses in the NYC carriage trade. The number varies but not by much. Approximately one third falls off the Department of Health registry every year. What does this mean? When an owner decides he wants to get rid of a horse, the existing NYC administrative code is very weak in regulating how this is done. It requires that sales or transfer records be submitted to the Department of Health but only if the transaction was made WITHIN NEW YORK CITY. While this would provide some information for where the horse ended up, it is ABSURD since most of the transactions are made outside the city. The horse auctions are in Pennsylvania and upstate New York.NO ACCOUNTABILITY: In the last five years, well over 300 NYC carriage horses have disappeared from the Department of Health rolls. I have analyzed and compared information I requested from this city agency through the Freedom of Information Law. Homes were undoubtedly found for some of the horses -- the favorites. But for the vast majority, it is presumed that they went on to auction where there are many kill buyers waiting to buy horse flesh for the ride to the slaughter facilities in Canada. After all, this is the easiest and most feasible thing for an owner to do -- and the most devastating for the horse. This must be controlled by statute. The carriage owners must be held accountable for each and every horse they "dispose of". It is not enough for them to say they find homes for all of their horses. Where is the proof? I defy them to show me the good homes for the over 300 horses I mention above. In June 2010, we found Bobby at the kill auction in Pennsylvania. He was from West Side Livery stables. The ID number was still on his left front hoof - a number that is easily sanded off. WE NEED TO DO THIS NOW: We do not expect the electric car bill to move any time soon. It has been almost one year since the City Council hearing on Intro 86 and although discussed at the hearing, there is still not one model car for the people in power to consider. In the meantime, we need to shame the NYC council for supporting one of the sources for horse slaughter -- the NYC carriage industry. They can at least do the right thing now and get this bill in the works while they wait to decided what to do about an overall ban.
Please click HERE to sign the petition.
IF YOU SHOP ONLINE -- YOU CAN HELP THE HORSES
Through a free registration with iGive, when you buy merchandise on line, your purchase will help us. There are over 700 stores that include such popular ones as Amazon.com, Staples, Best Buy and Barnes & Nobles. Even Cafe Press is available if you purchase some of our merchandise. Click here to get started.
JOIN US ON FACE BOOK & SIGN ONLINE PETITION
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
"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.
