7- 51/010 March 17, 2013
 
 

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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 ** NYS Avella/Rosenthal bill - take action ** Demo on Sunday ** CONA quiz

EDUCATIONAL DEMO ON SUNDAY AGAINST CARRIAGE TRADE
Join us on March 24TH
horse in snow Please join the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages and activists on Sunday, March 24th to protest the inhumane and unsafe carriage trade.
  • WHEN: Sunday, March 24th - 12 noon to 3 pm
  • WHERE: north side of Central Park South near Fifth Avenue

NYC CARRIAGE DRIVERS DON'T "STACK UP."
two of Cona's rules
unattended Carriage Operators of North America (CONA) is a national member organization that suggests driving standards. In the winter of 2011, they published a true or false quiz with answers in their newsletter - "How do you stack up?" Here are two of the questions where the NYC carriage drivers fail:
  1. "Passengers are the first to enter and last to leave a carriage. " The answer is FALSE. However, we have often seen the NYC carriage driver getting into the carriage after his customers are seated - and almost always before they disembark. it is unsafe to leave passengers in a carriage without the driver being in the box seat.
  2. "Drivers of commercial carriages should never leave their horse and carriage unattended, no matter what! " The answer to this, of course is TRUE. But we constantly see drivers leave their horses unattended and untethered - a very unsafe practice.

The driver of this carriage has walked off and left the passengers to manage without him. The horse is untethered and unattended. If something happens to scare him, he can spook and bolt into traffic causing a serious accident.

BILL TO BAN HORSE-DRAWN CARRIAGES IN NYS LEGISLATURE
Please make calls - Bill Numbers: S667 and A997 + Sign the petition
bullying The only bill to support in the campaign to ban horse-drawn carriages in NYC is the Avella/Rosenthal bill in the State Legislature. It is a pure ban. There are no strings attached. This is a link to a petition we have on change. org. Please sign it if you have not done so already.

You can read the legislation by clicking on the bill numbers, S667 and A997 . Text in CAPS is new. Text with a strike through is deleted.

PLEASE CALL MEMBERS OF CITIES COMMITTEE
to support S667 and A997 - The horses need your help!
The horses need your help. The best way to lobby your representative is to meet in person. If anyone wants to do that, please contact us at coalition@banhdc.org. The next best thing is a snail mail letter. Please see our newsletter from last week for the names of all the Cities Committee members and the links to their pages. Then comes phone calls. They are effective also. The telephone list is divided into Senate and Assembly - please make as many phone calls as you can. All you have to say is: My name is ______ and I live in ______ (borough or other city if not New York.) I am calling in support of S667 (or A997 if you are calling an Assemblymember.) I would like to know if Senator ______ (or Assemblymember _______ ) will sponsor this bill, which would prohibit the operation of horse-drawn carriages in New York City. Please get back to me on this issue. I will call back in a few days if I do not hear from you. " You should leave your e-mail , telephone number and/or address. If you live outside of New York City or state, please call anyway. This issue has resonated around the world and the carriage trade is frequented by tourists. If they ask for any information and they generally do not - and if you are not able to provide it - tell them you will get back to them and then contact us - coalition@banhdc.org. Please note changes in BOLD.
  • CITIES COMMITTEE - SENATE:
  • Andrew Lanza - chairman (NYC) - (518) 455-3215
  • Greg Ball (845) 279-3773
  • Neil D. Breslin (518) 455-2225
  • John A. DeFrancisco - (Syracuse) (315) 428-7632
  • Mark Grisanti - (Buffalo) (716) 854-8705
  • CITIES COMMITTEE - ASSEMBLY
  • Felix Ortiz - chairman - (NYC) (718) 492-6334
  • Joseph Borelli (NYC) (718) 967-5194
  • Edward Braunstein (NYC) (718) 357-3588
  • John Ceretto (Niagara Falls) (716) 282-6062
  • Jane Corwin (Clarence) (716) 839-4691
  • Marcos Crespo (NYC) (718) 893-0202
  • Rafael L. Espinal, Jr. (NYC) (718) 235-5627
  • Michael Kearns (Buffalo) (716) 826-0152
  • Micah Kellner - (NYC) (212) 860-4906
  • Shelley Mayer (Yonkers) (914) 779-8805
  • John McDonald III (518) 455-4474
  • Walter Mosley (NYC) (718) 596-0100
  • Bill Nojay (585) 334-5210
  • James Tedisco (Schenectady) (518) 370-2812
  • David Weprin (NYC) (718) 454-3027
    •

    E-mail addresses are deemed to be not as effective because they can be easily deleted. However, if you do not have the time to make phone calls and want to take the chance and write an e-mail - these are the groupings: SENATE lanza@senate.state.ny.us; jdefranc@nysenate.gov; grisanti@nysenate.gov; gball@nysenate.gov; breslin@senate.state.ny.us ASSEMBLY kellnerm@assembly.state.ny.us; MayerS@assembly.state.ny.us; HeastieC@assembly.state.ny.us; braunsteine@assembly.state.ny.us; cerettoj@assembly.state.ny.us; kearnsm@assembly.state.ny.us; weprind@assembly.state.ny.us; espinalr@assembly.state.ny.us; corwinj@assembly.state.ny.us; crespom@assembly.state.ny.us; tediscoj@assembly.state.ny.us

    PLEASE JOIN US ON TWITTER, FACEBOOK & YOUTUBE

    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 iGive - 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.