We chose to name this bill after Bobby II Freedom, the horse we rescued last June in New Holland, PA, along with Equine Advocates and Friends of Animals. Bobby had been thrown away like yesterday's trash and if it were not for the 4-digit ID number on his hoof and some vigilant activists who notified me, he might have continued on to slaughter in Canada. Of course we still want a ban of this industry, but it does not look like it will happen anytime soon. We had previously supported Intro 86, the bill that would phase out the carriage industry over three years, replacing it with vintage replica electric cars. We thought the Council would understand that it provided jobs for the drivers and support it. Instead, it appears to be stuck in the mud and going nowhere. Although this car idea has been floated for three years, there is still no prototype to show to the City Council and it is unlikely that the members would vote for something sight unseen.

So while we wait and wait for a more humane Mayor or Council Speaker, the horses continue to fall off the rolls and through the cracks. The most recent numbers from the Department of Health revealed that 157 horses left the rolls between January 2009 and November 2010. 123 horses were not accounted for because they were sold outside NYC. The rest appear to be sold or transferred to other NYC carriage owners. If a horse is sold or transferred within NYC, the records must be submitted to the Department of Health. But if a horse is sold OUTSIDE OF THE CITY, records are not required. The drivers often claim that they find homes for all of their horses, but there is no required proof. They remain unaccountable.

The existing law was clearly written with the drivers and not the horses in mind and it is about time that someone did something about it. I have been following NYC carriage horse statistics since 2005 and observed how many horses were disappearing off the horse registry with no indication of where they went. There was no requirement that their "retirement" was truly humane. There are currently no horse slaughter facilities in the US. According to the USDA, 112, 904 US horses were slaughtered in 2010 - up from 106,542 in 2009. 53,104 went to Mexico and 59, 693 to Canada. Surely some of those were carriage horses. [photo of Bobby II Freedom by Karen Wagner]

It is way past time to make it right for the horses and retire them permanently to good homes and sanctuaries. I have worked on and off on this issue since the 1990s but it was not until early 2006, after the horrific death of Spotty, that several us formed the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages, making it a standing committee of The Coalition for NYC Animals, which I had incorporated in 1995. Since then we have done all sorts of things to get attention to this issue - persuaded the NYC Comptroller's office to do the damning audit in 2006, which was released in 2007, got the first ever ban bill introduced by former Council Member Tony Avella; participated in hearings, wrote and generated countless articles, blogs, letters; had many demos and tabling events, started Horses Without Carriages International . We have never given up.

This is such a huge issue and so difficult that no one method of campaigning has proven the right way. If it had, the industry would be closed down by now. There is no magic bullet - never has been. So to those who claim that protesting is the only way to bring about change and advise you not to contact your council members - or those who want to shut down our Change.org petition because it is getting in the way of their bill - I say - please continue what you are doing and do the best you can on this issue and we will do the same. Don't pay attention to us. This is not a competition! There is room for everyone's style of advocacy. We have not solved this problem yet.

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 are 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.

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.

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