SUPPORT THE BILL TO BAN HORSE-DRAWN CARRIAGES IN NYC
Now it is up to us to move this forward!
NYS Senator Tony Avella and Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal have introduced a bill in the state Senate to ban the horse-drawn carriage industry in NYC. Please sign this petition at Change.org. CLICK HERE. If you live in New York State, it will generate letters to both your state Senator and Assemblyman to which you can add personal comments.
Although anyone can sign the petition regardless of where you live, it seems to be designed to generate letters only if you live in New York State. Until I find out differently, if you live outside of NYS and support this issue, please sign the petition as requested -- but send a letter (sample below) to the following:
- Senator Tony Avella - bill sponsor
- Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal - bill sponsor
- Senator Andrew J. Lanza - Chairman of Senate Cities Committee
- Assemblymember Carl E. Heastie - Chairman of Assembly Cities Committee
These are the e-mail addresses -- copy and paste them into an e-mail so you can send one: avella@nysenate.gov, rosenthall@assembly.state.ny.us,
lanza@senate.state.ny.us, HeastieC@assembly.state.ny.us
Use this as a sample letter: Please Support S5013 and A7748 - the bill to ban horse drawn carriages in NYC
Dear Senator and Assemblymember:
Please support S5013 and A7748, the bill that PROHIBITS THE OPERATION OF HORSE DRAWN CABS IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
This industry is inherently inhumane and dangerous. Horses are allowed to work the crowded and congested streets of NYC around the park and into Times Square. The slow moving and flimsy carriages are accidents waiting to happen with carriages pulled by sensitive horses. At 1,000 to 2,000 pounds, the horses, who are prey animals, can spook at the slightest provocation and bolt into traffic, becoming unwitting weapons.
The horses may legally work up to nine hours a day, seven days a week and do not have any turn out to pasture. They live in multi storied stables in the far west side of Manhattan away from the public - mostly on upper floors - in stalls that are less than one half the size of what experts recommend. At the end of their "career" approximately 60-70 a year drop off the rolls of the Department of Health because records of their disposition are not required. Many end up at the slaughter auctions.
It is time to shut this industry down and for NYC to move into the 21st century with compassion for all beings. Please support these two bills. For further information go to www.banhdc.org.
The horse pictured above is called Beauty. She is wearing blinders to which tape has been added to prevent her from having any peripheral vision. She was obviously frightened of the heavy traffic. She is no longer working. Does anyone know what happened to her?
READ THE BILL
S5013 & A7748
In the Senate, the bill is # S5013. In the Assembly, the bill is # A7748. "Prohibits the operation of horse drawn cabs in the city of New York; defines the circumstances under which sale or disposal of a horse shall be deemed humane.'Click here to read the bill.
TOP 15 REASONS WHY NYC SHOULD BAN HORSE-DRAWN CARRIAGES
Click here for the TOP 15 REASONS WHY NYC SHOULD BAN HORSE-DRAWN CARRIAGES.
COMMENTS ON MATZAV.COM - THE JEWISH WORLD @YOUR FINGERTIPS
Read two excellent comments
Matzav.com picked up the story about the new Avella-Rosenthal bill. Most of the comments are to be expected - dumb but know-it-all. I would like to share two excellent comments here. The first was published; the second was not.
The first from Rina Deych, RN. -
June 10, 2011 - Rina is part of the Alliance To End Chickens As Kaporos, which you may find on Facebook.
This is a heinously cruel industry. Many of these animals are doing a second lifetime of work for man. They are out in all sorts of weather extremes with NO enforcement (regardless of what the industry tells you). If they don't drop dead of exhaustion, illness, or accidents with cars, once they can't "perform" adequately anymore, they are sold at auction to SLAUGHTERHOUSES, where they die a horrific, tortuous death. Horses don't belong in NYC traffic, period. Anyone who has done his homework about this industry would know that it violates Tza'ar Ba'alei Chaim, and anyone who defends the industry is perpetuating cruelty.
This is from Zelda Penzel - co founder of SOS-Save-Our-Shelter-Animals, which is also on Facebook. "from a Concerned Jew: It is clear that we have reached a time in the "evolution" of our species, where there exists a great divide between those with conscience, clarity and compassion and those who continue to dwell in the dark, dank caves of inhumanity, ignorance, cruelty and indifference. How much longer can we wait?
I am really concerned about the ignorance displayed here by "schm**ks who are still living in the 18th century! Animal exploitation and abuse is rampant throughout the world. Everyone makes a living off the backs of creatures who have no say...they are used and abused for forced labor, entertainment, sport, lab experiments, food, clothing. The Carriage Horse industry is another example of something that has no place in a modern society. Horses are herd animals, we have enslaved them for our own purposes.
But as society evolves and we learn more about the intelligence and true nature of animals, it becomes more and more evident that the unspeakable abuses, the horrific treatment of animals, can in no way be justified. What we do now to animals will one day be considered criminal.
"Auschwitz begins wherever someone looks at a slaughterhouse and thinks: "they're only animals".
~Jewish philosopher Theodor Adorno 1903-1969
"As long as people will shed the blood of innocent creatures there can be no peace, no liberty, no harmony between people. Slaughter and justice cannot dwell together."
~Isaac Bashevis Singer
"It should not be believed that all beings exist for the sake of the existence of man. On the contrary, all the other beings too have been intended for their own sakes and not for the sake of something else."
-Maimonides c.1190
CONFERENCE INCLUDES PANEL ON HORSE ISSUES
June 25th and June 26th
The Anti Fur Society will hold their first ever conference on June 25th and 26th. It promises to be very interesting and a lot of fun. It takes place in Alexandria, Virginia, which is very close to Washington, DC.
- Check out the Program
- Check out the Speakers
- Register - Registration is FREE. If you choose, you can pay $40 for the vegan reception on Saturday night.
I will be on a panel about Horses called Horse exploitation: The Great Betrayal, speaking about the carriage horse issue. Speakers include:
- John Holland / Equine Welfare Alliance - horse slaughter
- Laura Allen / Animal Law Coalition - wild mustang issue
- Stuart Chaifetz / Shark - horses in rodeos
- Elizabeth Forel / Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages - carriage horses
- Allen, Forel, Holland -- Political Activism for Horses
- Mercado - The Horses of San Barnabe
- Azar - Illegal horse slaughter in Florida
Other panels sound very engaging and include discussions on fur bearing animals, empowering the grass roots animal rights movement; companion animals; and art & media to raise AR awareness. I hope to see you there. We have several people going from NYC - if you want to join us, let me know.
WILD HORSES IN DANUBE DELTA ROMANIA ARE BEING SLAUGHTERED
please sign this petition
The wild horses of the Danube Valley in Romania are being captured and sent to slaughter - probably in Italy. Please sign this petition on Change.org - Demand that the Danube Delta Horses are released to Animal welfare, not slaughtered
This is the Face book page link. Please click here for a must see video on Youtube - This is Romania. Land of choice and massacre
This is a heartbreaking situation that needs international attention.
THE HIGH PRICE OF HORSE SLAUGHTER
by the Animal Law Coalition - read and take action
From the Animal Law Coalition - We need to make sure commercial horse slaughter in the U.S. remains illegal. An amendment, introduced by Rep. Jim Moran was accepted by the Committee on a vote of 24 to 21, and it's now on to a vote by the full House on the agriculture appropriations bill on June 15. Read the article by clicking here.
At the end of the article there is a link to another page listing the actions you can take. We need to make sure that there is no funding allowed by Congress to once again legalize horse slaughter. This is the page. Click here.
COZUMEL - PLEASE HELP THESE HORSES
Please send one e-mail
The activists from Cozumel in Mexico have not gone away. They had a set back recently when the new mayor allowed the carriage drivers to continue to work, ignoring their own laws. But the campaign continues. Jennifer, a woman from the US, has joined the campaign against this very inhumane tourist trade. After visiting Cozumel and hoping for a nice peaceful vacation, she came face to face with the horses. Seeing how they looked, she could not forget them and has started her own campaign.
Please take a moment to send Jennifer an e-mail - cheapdogbath@aol.com - She is collecting e-mails to be presented to the mayor when she returns in July of this year. Let her know how this is a very inhumane industry and should be abolished.
This is a link to her blog Stop Horse Abuse in Cozumel. The drawing here is by Chloe, an eight year old.
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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.
