6-31/265 July 31, 2011
 
 

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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 & ASSOCIATES ** Issues with Jane-Velez Mitchell ** Video - Horse spooks and falls in park ** Ban horse-drawn carriages in NYC - sign petition ** Epoch Times **

ISSUES WITH JANE-VELEZ MITCHELL
July 27th - covers NYC carriage horse issue
traffic Jane Velez Mitchell covered the NYC carriage horse issue on her show on July 27th. Called Will New York Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages?, Jane interviewed Senator Tony Avella about his new bill to ban horse-drawn carriages and included video footage from Blinders: The Truth Behind the Tradition. Our demo was also picked up on Skype through an Iphone.

Click here to view the video on CNN. Thanks so much to Jane for doing this show. We are so grateful for the coverage, for showing our demo and for listing our web site. www.banhdc.org. We had about 50 people at the demo. Thanks to everyone who came out in the heat.

YOUTUBE VIDEO SHOWS HORSE SPOOKING & FALLING
then he is put back to work
traffic This is going around Youtube. We do not know the woman. She appears to be a tourist who took a carriage ride with a young boy and shortly after, the horse began to spook. She is filming all the while and sees the horse stumbling and falling. She is very upset. Click her to see Horse Tumbles During Carriage Ride in Central Park

The second video shows the horse back at the hack line waiting for another passenger. The woman is very upset and gives the driver a piece of her mind. Many people who take carriage rides do so because they care about horses. They simply do not get it like we do and they need to be educated. Click here to see the second one. Horse Back to Work 15 minutes after he fell 2x

These are the basics about knowing a horse's nature.

  • Horses are prey animals - that means they have a fight or flight mentality
  • They are unpredictable and spook easily at the slightest provocation - a loud noise, a weird noise, rustling leaves, an odd smell
  • When that happens, they spook and their first instinct is to get away from the source of fear - that thing that is going to "get" them.
  • If they are able, they will bolt and tear into traffic, dragging the carriage after them, still tied to their back.
  • These horses are powerful animals. Carriage horses can weigh anywhere from 1,200 to 2,000 plus pounds. When they run out of fear, they will knock you down to escape if you are in their way. They become unwitting weapons and you need to watch out. This woman was right to tell the boy to run to safety.
  • All across the world, both horses and people have been seriously injured and killed in carriage horse spooking accidents.
  • Horses do not belong in the heavy traffic of NYC - this also means Central Park.
  • You do not have to be an Olympic Equestrian Award Winner to be able to say this with authority.
  • AFTER ALL -- IT IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE.
  • EPOCH TIMES COVERS THE ISSUE
    July 27th article
    nose to tailpipe Activists Ramp Up Efforts to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages - Epoch Times - 7/28/11 -- NEW YORK-In light of two recent accidents involving horse-drawn carriages in New York City, animal-rights activists have held a slew of rallies and press conferences to call for a ban on the carriages. Groups such as the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages (CBHDC) began fighting what they call an inhumane industry years ago. After the two incidents in July, CBHDC brought the issue forth with renewed zeal. On July 16, a horse got spooked near Central Park and bolted for a couple of blocks before crashing its empty carriage into a vehicle. No one was hurt in this incident, but several were injured in another collision on July 25. Jack Hidary passed by after that collision occurred; he sent CBHDC photos of a toppled carriage and a taxi with a crumpled front end. The taxi appears to have rear-ended the carriage.

    "[It's] just one more example of how it's too dangerous-plus the fact that it's an inhumane practice for the animal. It's just too dangerous to have them [horse-drawn carriages] in Midtown traffic," said state Sen. Tony Avella on Sunday in response to the July 16 accident. The state senator's comment came only a day before the second accident would occur. Avella introduced a bill to ban horse-drawn carriages in any city within the New York state with a population of 1 million or more. Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal introduced a companion bill in the state Assembly. CON'T.

    SUPPORT THE BILL TO BAN HORSE-DRAWN CARRIAGES IN NYC
    It is up to us to move this forward! - Please sign petition
    The NYS State Legislature is on summer break now, but you can still contact your representatives about this bill. 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 read this article by Stephanie Feldstein at Change.org and then sign the petition, which is linked and will generate letters to state legislators. Anyone can sign the petition. You do not have to live in New York State. People from other states and countries are encouraged to sign.

    HAS YOUR LEGISLATOR RESPONDED TO YOU? If so, please send me a copy of the correspondence - to [email protected]. Please sign the petition if you have not already -- forward to friends. Let's try to make it 2,000 signatures by Monday.

    PICTURES
    All of of these pictures were taken on July 27th in NYC traffic. Notice the last one. The horse's nose is almost touching the van in front of him. Is this normal? Is this safe? Of course not, so why are we accepting of it?

    WHAT YOU CAN DO
    get the message out
    If you have not already signed it, please sign the petition mentioned above for the bill that is currently in the NYS state legislature.

    But here is another suggestion. Friend your Council Member, State Senator and State Assemblymember on Facebook. Find out who they are through these web sites:

    Leave a polite message for them on their wall. They or an aide will see it. Send them the links to the spooking video in this newsletter.

    HELP OUR ORGANIZATION BY SHOPPING ON LINE.
    igive 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
    facebook logo

    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.

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.