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9-09 April 12, 2015
 
 

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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 -- Investigation into death of Tickles ** Buy your Tickles dog tag ** Questionable study about horses stress level ** Call Council Members Levin and Vacca ** woman killed in spooking accident ** NYC horse spooks and bolts

NOTE: the best way to receive this newsletter is to subscribe directly. Although I post it on other lists, sometimes (for reasons unknown) they do not approve it - so you are subject to their whims. PLEASE CLICK HERE to subscribe directly. If you want to see past newsletters - CLICK HERE for our archive.

DONATE & GET A TICKLES HORSE TAG
Tickles represents all the beleaguered carriage horses who are treated like commodities and products.
Tickles, a NYC carriage horse, was euthanized in his stall on February 13th. His leg was fractured and he could not stand. We do not believe the Department of Health did an adequate or suitable investigation. Instead they allowed the carriage horse vet to call the shots. Wrong! We have asked for a thorough investigation - but we have not heard back from the DoH. This was raised in my recent article in TheDodo. Wearing a Tickles tag will show that you support a ban on horse-drawn carriages and that you understand Tickles represents all the horses who went before him and disappeared into oblivion.

The tag is silver colored and comes with a 25" chain to wear around your neck and a short one for a key chain.

  • TICKLES
  • 2-13-15 R.I.P
  • NEW YORK CITY
  • CARRIAGE HORSE
  • WWW.BANHDC.ORG

The tag is $15. Please go to this page and either send us a check or use PayPal. We are an all volunteer, grass roots organization that is in it to win it. But we need your support. Your donation will allow us to continue getting the truth out. It will help pay for these newsletters, flyers and posters.

DAILY NEWS DOES IT AGAIN - IRRESPONSIBLE YELLOW JOURNALISM
Read our response in Horse Talk
The NY Daily News should just give it up now. It is supposed to be on the selling block and it can't be too soon. They - the editors and select reporters - continue to confuse editorials with fact. Once again they jumped the gun and had what they consider an "Ah ha" moment with this embarrassing article EXCLUSIVE: New York City carriage horses are stress-free even after long day of trotting, academic says followed by an even more embarrassing one citing both Liam Neeson and rookie Council Member Rafael Espinal. Liam Neeson says study showing carriage horses have low stress level should end debate on ban. Espinal says this: "The stress study shows encouraging data and debunks the theory that the industry is inhumane," said Espinal, who is against the ban." Does he not realize how very ignorant he sounds. Let's hope his constituents are aware of this come 2017 when this rookie is up for his first reelection.

This "study," which is highly questionable and has not gone through peer review, was picked up by only a few sources. The other major NYC papers avoided it. The Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages immediately jumped on this and sent out a press release. You can see our response below.

NEW YORK CARRIAGE HORSE "STUDY" COMES UNDER FIRE
The Coalition speaks out.
New York carriage-horse study comes under fire -- Horsetalk - April 14, 2015. We called upon experts Holly Cheever, DVM and Nedim Buyukmihci, DVM to comment on this study. Dr. Buyukmihci: "This was not a robust study, as it only looked at one criterion - cortisol - when there are so many other criteria that need to be evaluated if welfare was the aim of the study." Dr. Cheever said "Whether their cortisol levels are elevated or not, the life on the streets for carriage horses inarguably places them in an inhospitable environment in which they suffer the blistering heat of summertime city pavements and the searing cold of last winter's high wind chills and low temperatures. "They are essentially incarcerated 24/7 between the shafts of a carriage and the close confines of their stalls with no opportunity to experience the essential 'turnout' with a compatible buddy, permitting them to properly relax and satisfy both physical and behavioral needs," Cheever said.

Coalition president Elizabeth Forel questioned why anyone would take seriously a study "paid for by the carriage trade". "No-one - least of all a professional - would expect the findings from such a small study to amount to the 'last word' that would persuade Mayor Bill de Blasio to call off his plans to ban the trade. "Regardless of how the other side wants to spin this, there is no denying the punishing conditions under which the horses work and the fact that they are prey animals who can spook at the slightest provocation and cause serious accidents, as has happened around the globe," Forel said. "Horses have a well-developed fight-or-flight response to certain stimuli," she said. "When a 1500-pound horse gets spooked on the street - as many have - and he bolts into traffic or a crowd of people, I cannot imagine anyone trying to reason with him, 'But Liam Neeson [the actor who supports the carriage trade] said you were supposed to be stress-free!'Coalition vice-president Mary Culpepper labelled the study disingenuous. "These unpublished findings, paid for by New York City's own carriage trade, represent the trade's pure desire to deceive the public and the City Council. "Nothing here suggests any interest in the horses' well-being," she said. "It is nonsensical to suggest that horses - naturally skittish prey animals - are content to navigate alongside cars and buses, and be warehoused in multistory industrial buildings in Hell's Kitchen."

CALL THE CITY COUNCIL. THIS WEEK IT IS TWO: COUNCIL MEMBER STEPHEN LEVIN
We are trying to make it easier for you to call by asking you to call two Council Members this week. So please put this on your calendar. Both Council Member Levin and Vacca are on the Transportation Committee where Intro 573, the bill to ban horse-drawn carriages, resides. Please call both Council Member Levin and Vacca and ask them to support the bill to ban horse-drawn carriages - Intro 573.

AND COUNCIL MEMBER JAMES VACCA
New Yorkers and non-New Yorkers - please call

HELP OUR ORGANIZATION BY SHOPPING ONLINE - iGIVE
If you buy online, you can help the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages
igive Through a free registration with iGive, when you buy merchandise on line, your purchase will help us. Many organizations give a percentage of the sale to not for profit organizations at no cost to you. There are more than 1500 stores that include such popular ones as Amazon.com, Staples, Best Buy and Barnes & Noble. Click here to get started.

On iGive - the name of our organization is "The Coalition for NYC Animals, Inc." Click here to begin.

YOUNG ARIZONA MOTHER KILLED IN SPOOKING ACCIDENT
Young mother in Arizona dies after jumping out of a horse carriage so she could save her son. The horse had spooked and she was afraid of a crash. An eye witness described seeing the horse barreling out of control with a carriage attached. Read more here. The woman later died leaving two children. This horse was "a very calm horse and it is unclear what spooked it."

SPOOKED NYC CARRIAGE HORSES ESCAPES ON WEST 48TH STREET.
another serious accident averted.
A spooked carriage horse, named Fury broke free and galloped down the street on Friday. His driver chased after the horse on foot, finally corralling him. The horse was taken to the hack line to work. Fury was pulling a carriage owned by Gloria McGill of Chateau Stables, according to City records. He has been in the business for some time - but after this episode, we wonder how much longer he will be working.

A former carriage driver from Montreal commented: "I worked the carriage business in Montr�al and what i've witnessed is beyond belief. Let me tell you one thing people come in that business coz of their love for horses and leave it for the same reason. You cannot love horses and make them go through that. It's just NOT natural for a horse to pull a carriage on pavement,in traffic, inhaling all these car fumes all day long and even sometimes in adverse weather.

PLEASE JOIN US ON OUR SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS
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"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.