Carriage Horses Should Go

To the Editor:
Horse-drawn carriages add to traffic congestion, jeopardize public safety, pollute the streets with manure and subject horses to a life misery (editorial, “Carriage Horse Oversight,” Oct. 1). I recently completed a documentary film called  BLINDERS, about the NYC horse-drawn carriage controversy. According to the equine veterinarians I interviewed, who have inspected the horses and stables on behalf of the ASCPA, certain conditions in New York City cannot be corrected in a way that would make the industry humane. Read more

VET SPEAKS UP

To the Editor:
Ms. Saffran calls me “extremist” and “fanatic” (Letters, Oct. 2). Let me set the record straight. Since graduating at the top of my Harvard undergraduate and my Cornell veterinary school classes, I have served as a consultant for cruelty case investigations on behalf of shelters and law officers. With the New York State Humane Association, I teach seminars on cruelty case investigations to law and animal control officers, and for my work in this area I received awards from the New York State Troopers, The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Humane Society of the U.S., to name a few. I am a contributing Read more

INHERENTLY CRUEL PRACTICE

To the Editor:
Your recent article, “Fairytale Ride or Cruel Practice?” (Sept. 18), tries to present a balanced view, although your writer got several facts wrong (the Coalition has 30,000 signatures, not 10,000). I don’t know how there can be a balanced view on a practice that is inherently cruel. It’s like trying to present a balanced view about a tiger in a cage: sure, he gets food and water, but he’s so miserable that he would commit suicide if he knew how to do it. Horses on the hack line are not allowed to be horses. What part of their day is natural for a horse? We have never seen proof of their getting pasture. Read more

HORSES NOT MEANT FOR STREETS

To the Editor:
When any creature is used to enrich anyone’s pocketbooks, the subject seems to bring out untruths (“Fairytale Ride or Cruel Practice?,” Sept. 18). Anyone who feels that these horses are having fun just doesn’t give a darn about their safety or their lives.
The reporter makes it sound like a ride in the park, while these horses must try and survive in the streets of busy New York City. It is hard enough for cars to drive in these areas-what makes people think it is safe for a horse? Read more

FAIR SHAKE FOR HORSES

To the Editor:
Alexa Schirtzinger’s story on carriage horses (“Fairytale Ride or Cruel Practice?, Sept. 18) was a balanced view of a contentious subject. I’m a card-carrying member of PETA and give regularly, but I don’t see the horses as abused. While I can sympathize with the anti-carriage advocates, I believe they’re simply attacking what’s in front of them. There are millions of work horses all over the world, and carriage horses are probably better treated than 99.9 percent of them. Read more

RETIRE CARRIAGE HORSES

To the Editor:
The carriage horse industry and the horses they exploit should be put out to pasture. This sad spectacle in the heart of 21st-century Manhattan (some heart!) is a relic of the past that should go the way of human slavery. Like the slave owners before them, those who profit from carriage trade contend that their slaves are happy and well treated and, furthermore, they would be worse off if they weren’t under the protection of their benign enslavement. Read more

FAIRYTALE RIDE OR DATED ABUSE?

Ricky is a 12-year-old pale gray Percheron with a draft horse’s powerfully muscled legs, a gentle demeanor and the ability to make gaggles of young would-be models squeal with delight. He pulls the white carriage with lavender trim that starred in the Disney movie Enchanted—kids are always recognizing it and begging their parents for a ride, says Ricky’s driver, Chantel Semanchik-and wears a matching lilac sprig of feathers Read more