Mayor de Blasio took what should have been a great idea — putting stables in Central Park to preserve the iconic and historic carriage industry — and made it a nightmare for horses.
Worse, so-called “animal activists” support him.
The mayor’s bill limits the number of horse licenses that the city will issue, cutting them to 110 by December 2016 and to 95 when a hypothetical stable is opened in Central Park.
There are approximately 180 licensed horses now. But that number fluctuates because carriage owners are allowed to own as many horses as they want and need.
Most carriage owners have two or three horses. They have two horses in the city and one on the farm. The horses rotate to the farm for their city-mandated fiveweek-minimum vacation, so many horses average four months vacation per year.
Horses either work every other day, or one may work during the day shift and one during the night shift. The night horse gets a few nights off a week and gives a day or two off to the day-shift horse by filling in. In either scenario, horses do not work seven days a week, though the carriage goes out every day, which provides income and jobs to make the industry economically viable
The city has never before limited horse licenses. Any horse who met the city’s requirements, passed a vet examination and whose owner filled out all the paperwork was eligible to work in NYC. Those that enjoy working in the city are the ones who stay and are cherished by their owners for many years.
For decades, carriage-horse owners have been able to rotate their horses and give them days off as they’ve seen fit. Carriage-horse owners are able to easily bring in new horses to try out.
Older horses spend increasing amounts of time “on vacation” until their owners find retirement homes for them. Finding a good retirement home can take months or years. Allowing older horses to continue to work, even for a couple of months a year, keeps horses fit both physically and mentally and extends their lifespan.
De Blasio would change all of that and put horses in danger.
This bill would limit most carriage owners to a single horse. A few carriage owners would win the horse-license lottery and get to have two horses. Carriage owners would no longer have spare horses in the city to give their horses days off.
Instead of four months vacation, the majority of carriage horses would get only the minimum five weeks because their owners wouldn’t be able to afford to take off more than five weeks themselves without a horse to work the carriage. Worse, under the new bill, it would be the city, not the horse owner, who would decide when horses go on vacation.
It’s only a matter of time until horses are overworked or go lame. The bill would incentivize discarding a lame horse in order to be allowed to purchase and license a new horse.
And what about the horses that lose their licenses starting Dec. 1 and have to find new homes?
Horses are very expensive to care for. Which is why carriage horses, who earn a living for themselves and their owners, enjoy much higher levels of care than many other horses in this country. Horse rescues and sanctuaries are full with waiting lists.
Once horses are re-homed or “retired,” unless they’re lucky enough to land with another commercial-carriage company in another city, they’re no longer protected in terms of the hours and weather conditions they can work. While the carriage owners don’t sell their horses at auction, future owners certainly might, which would put our horses at risk for being bought for slaughter.
Don’t be fooled by activists claiming to have waiting lists of so-called “forever homes” for our horses. They haven’t been vetted for suitability, and there’s nothing in the bill to protect horses several months down the road when one of these “forever homes” finds its situation changed, its horse knowledge lacking or its budget busted.
Organizations like NYCLASS and PETA believe it’s wrong for horses to be owned and ridden or driven by people. The reduction in horse numbers would actually make the remaining horses work harder. The “activists” don’t care: Creating suffering where none had previously existed helps them further their cause.
Anyone who truly loves horses can see that what we need is more homes for horses, not fewer. The carriage industry provides excellent homes for many horses and responsibly retires them.
No question about it: De Blasio’s bill is bad for carriage horses.
Christina Hansen is a New York carriage driver.