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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 FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES: in this issue ** our fund raiser ** Lobby Day ** Jane Velez-Mitchell on the carriage horse issue ** Spooking accident in Montreal & demo in opposition to carriage trade

OUR FUND RAISER WAS A SUCCESS
thanks to everyone who made it so
DONNY, EF, JANE We especially want to thank Jane Velez-Mitchell who once again worked with Chriss Berk, our Raffle Queen, to hand out raffle prizes. Special thanks to Senator Tony Avella and Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal whose speeches were very inspiring. Peter Muller recruited more people for Lobby Day and Donny Moss spoke passionately about the carriage horse issue and how the 2013 mayoral election is so important to this cause. Susan Wagner spoke about Bobby II Freedom, which you can see below. Joy Askew and Deborah Thomas performed beautifully. We played Brian Gari's song Horse of a Different Color because he is recovering from serious surgery. And a big thanks to funny man Harris Bloom, who came through in a pinch and did a terrific job as host.

Special thanks to the Traffic Bar for once again supporting our efforts - and to Cafe Blossom, Candle Cafe, Franchia, Whole Earth Bakery, Taim Falafel, Terri Vegetarian, Loving Hut and Gone Pie for donating food. Please support them.

PLEASE SUPPORT BILL # S5013 & A7748 TO BAN HORSE-DRAWN CARRIAGES IN NYC
the subject of our May 1st Lobby Day
TONY AVELLA If you have not already signed the petition on Change.org to support this bill, please click here. This is the link to the bill. Wow!! Currently we have 120,632 signatures in support of the Avella/Rosenthal bill.

Yes - that is Senator Tony Avella.

LOBBY DAY IN ALBANY - MAY 1ST TUESDAY
Last chance to get your bus ticket - Be part of history!
Lobby Day Button SIGN UP FOR LOBBY DAY. We hope you will join us for Lobby Day in Albany on May 1st to support the Avella/Rosenthal bill to ban horse-drawn carriages in NYC. Please do not worry about your knowledge of the bill. You will be part of a team. We will provide fact sheets to everyone who participates. Please -- let's show our legislators that there is support for this issue. Sign up now. Click Here to sign up for the League of Humane Voters round trip bus to Albany, which is only $20. The bus will not stop in Yonkers because there was not enough time - midtown Manhattan only

IMPORTANT: If you are planning to attend Lobby Day -- and are not going by the LoHV bus, please click on the LoHV link above, and then click on "no thanks, I'll make my own arrangements" and enter your contact information so LoHV can determine who your legislators are and be able to contact and coordinate with you the day of the event. BTW - everyone who lobbies gets a button just like this -- until they run out.

ISSUES WITH JANE-VELEZ MITCHELL
on carriage horse issue - 4/27/12
JANE On Friday night, Jane Velez Mitchell did a segment on the carriage horse issue, interviewing film maker Donny Moss who created Blinders: the Truth Behind the Tradition. Jane is very sympathetic to the issue and mentioned our bill. Thanks Jane for this segment, which was televised nationally. Click here.

This is Jane giving a raffle prize to a winner at our fund raiser.

SOME HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR FUND RAISING PARTY
food No one ever gets tired of Bobby II Freedom, the former NYC carriage horse that Susan Wagner and I rescued in 2010. Here is Susan talking about Bobby: Click Here.

Linda Rosenthal's speech - click here.

This is our slide show from the event, which is now on Youtube. Click here.

CARRIAGE HORSE SPOOKS IN MONTREAL
woman goes flying from carriage; injured
montreal CTV-Montreal - April 28, 2012 - OLD MONTREAL Horse causes damage, takes woman on terrifying caleche ride- A woman went for a wild and frightening ride in Old Montreal Saturday in a bizarre caleche incident. A horse attached to a buggy bolted along Notre Dame St., dragging its driver for several metres, and taking off with a woman inside the carriage. Witnesses said the horse was running at top speed through the Old Montreal neighbourhood at about 2:30 p.m. "It was very fast, and the carriage was broken from Notre Dame. It came around 40 kilometres (per hour) fast," said one witness. The incident began when two caleches bumped into each other at St. Laurent Blvd. One of the horses' blinders became crooked from the nudge, and so the driver hopped off the vehicle to adjust it.

Suddenly, the horse tore off at top speed, along Notre Dame. The driver attempted to restrain the animal, and was dragged for a few metres before he became unable to hang on. The horse ripped through the neighbourhood as pedestrians jumped out of the way to avoid being clipped by the animal. "I was coming out of the corner and I heard a (sound of horse hooves) and so I just looked and I saw a big horse coming very, very fast," said another witness. The animal smashed in to several cars, leaving wreckage in its path. "We saw the horse running full speed," said a witness. "It was hitting cars the carriage was falling apart, hitting cars. Then it took a left and hit those lights." The woman was tossed from the caleche after it hit a pothole. The buggy smashed into many pieces on nearby St. Vincent St.at St. Paul St. CTV reporter Laura Casella, who witnessed the incident, said the woman appeared to be conscious and responsive. She was treated by firefighters and Urgences-Sante at the scene and taken to hospital by ambulance. Urgences-Sante later confirmed the woman was from Ontario and in her 60s. She suffered only minor injuries to her arm and shoulder. She also complained of neck pain. The horse escaped the scene and was wandering through the streets of Old Montreal without its driver. The horse was eventually retrieved. No word on its condition.

DEMO AGAINST THE HORSE-DRAWN CARRIAGES IN MONTREAL
Demo - Saturday May 5th
On Saturday, May 5th 2012, 1:00 pm, H�tel de Ville, 275, rue Notre-Dame, Montreal, join the Anti-Caleche Defense Coalition to make sure that this unsafe and inhumane industry has no future in this city.

Like Anti-Caleche Defense Coalition on Facebook. Click here.

HELP OUR ORGANIZATION BY SHOPPING ON LINE
Also check out Cafe Press to purchase CBHDC merchandise
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 & Noble. Even Cafe Press is available if you purchase some of our merchandise. Click here to get started.

On I-Give - the name of our organization is "The Coalition for NYC Animals, Inc. ." We also have three stores on Cafe Press with great t-shirts, bags, hats, mugs, mouse pads, etc. . Purchasing this merchandise helps our organization. Click here.

"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.