7-03/288 January 15, 2012
 
 

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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 & COLLEAGUES: Lobby Day ** Support state bill ** Charlie Tags ** Reporting an incident ** War Horse flyering **

LOBBY DAY FOR THE BAN HORSE-DRAWN CARRIAGE BILL - MAY 1, 2012
What you can do now in preparation to push for the Avella/Rosenthal bill
horse NEW YORKERS: We recently met with Senator Tony Avella about the bill to ban horse-drawn carriages in NYC. A Lobby Day has been scheduled for May 1, 2012 in Albany when advocates will meet with their legislators. Please make plans to be there and stay tuned for more information. For now, Senator Avella has asked that everyone do the following to promote the bill:
  • CALL both your New York State Senator and Assemblymember. Calls are very important now and the Senator asked that you call both the Albany office and the District office. You will be making four calls. Please do this even if you have already sent letters or signed the petition.
  • To find out who your representatives are and their telephone numbers. Click here - NYS Senate and Click here-NYS Assembly
  • This is what you should say: When you call your state Senator's office, mention Bill #S5013, the Bill to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages in NYC, introduced by Senator Tony Avella. When you call your NYS Assemblymember, mention Bill #A7748, the Bill to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages in NYC, introduced by Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal. THIS IS CRUCIAL - Please be sure to get the bill numbers right and to mention the names of each legislator
  • Ask both your Senator and Assemblymember to sign on as a sponsor to the respective bill in their house.
  • Tell him/her why it is important that they support this bill - you can say the industry is inherently inhumane; horses do not belong in the heavy congested traffic of NYC; it is very unsafe - there have been many accidents in which horses and people have been injured and horses have died - is a person next?; there have been 7 accidents since July 2011 - one horse died; tell them that in every media poll taken since 2006, including in Crain's NY Business and the Daily News, the results have always been at least 75% of the respondents in favor of a ban of the industry
  • for reference, see the letter that is part of our petition on Change.org. Scroll down under Petition Letter. Click Here.
  • Ask your representative if they would like to receive more information. Get the person's name and e-mail address and contact us - [email protected]
  • Please give us feedback on your calls. E-mail us at [email protected]
  • Let us know if you will be coming to Albany. E-mail us at [email protected]

NON NEW YORKERS: We greatly appreciate all the support we have received from those of you who live outside New York State. You are the potential tourists. You are the ones our mayor says come here with "taking a horse-drawn carriage ride" as #1 on your To Do list. You can help by calling the Committee Chairs:

  • Please make four calls -- two to the Senate Committee Chair and two to the Assembly Committee Chair (to both their District and Albany office.)
  • The bills are in the Cities committee in both the Senate and Assembly
  • Senate: Senator Andrew J. Lanza -- District Office (718) 984-4073 ; Albany Office - (518) 455-3215
  • Assembly: Assemblymember Carl E. Heastie -- District Office - 718-654-6539; Albany Office - 518-455-4800
  • For Senator Lanza - mention Bill #S5013, introduced by Senator Tony Avella
  • For Assemblymember Heastie - mention Bill # A7748, introduced by Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal
  • Tell them where you live; that you have been following this issue for some time and support a ban on horse-drawn carriages. See information above for reasons. Make sure you tell them that you would never ride in a horse-drawn carriage and appreciate all the other things NYC has to offer.

This is a link to the bill. For those of you who do not know, there are two houses in the New York State Legislature - the Senate and the Assembly. Identical bills must be introduced into both houses. They will have different numbers but the language must be the same. This is a link to the Senate bill, which is identical to the Assembly bill.

SUPPORT NY STATE BILL TO BAN HORSE-DRAWN CARRIAGES
Please sign this petition
This petition has gone viral!!! We currently have over 115,000 signatures in support of the state bill. So PLEASE sign it if you have not done so already and pass it on to friends and colleagues.Click Here to Sign Petition.

VILLAGE VOICE - 100 MOST POWERLESS NEW YORKERS
Carriage Horses included
taking picture The Village Voice has published its "100 Most Powerless New Yorkers" "Have you noticed that power lists, which have been spreading like the clap lately, from the Time 100 to the Forbes 500, tell you things you already know about the rich and famous and give publicity to people who already have more of it than they know what to do with? For the rest of us, here's a power list to get 2012 going in the right direction. They're in no particular order. (Like it really matters.)" "9. Carriage horses These horses work in the hottest hot and the coldest cold. Despite the fact even the best-trained horse can be spooked unexpectedly, they walk right in the middle of traffic on the busiest streets of Midtown, even at rush hour. This past year, three have collapsed, one fatally, on the job."

Thank you Village Voice for acknowledging these sentient, sensitive beings who continue to be ignored by the people who could make a difference in local government - the ones who try to get us to believe that improvements have been made for the horses. See our newsletter from last week - 2nd and 3rd article- click here.

OVER RATED TOURIST ATTRACTIONS IN NYC
a new list by Cheap Air Travel Blog
horse eating from ground Cheap Air Travel blog lists their Overrated Tourist Attractions in NYC. Included are carriage rides: Horse Carriage around Central Park: How many movies have you seen where cute couples scout the streets of Manhattan on a horse carriage? Plentiful as we'd suspect. No matter how romantic it may seen, it doesn't seem to hit the top of our to-do list. Many locals seem concerned with the treatment of these loving animals and find the prices to be steep. Until this is cleared up, we'll hold our horses and stick to getting lost in Central Park which is a lot more fun.

ARE HORSE DRAWN CARRIAGES HUMANE?
blog on Petside.com
The issue continues to be in the news hopefully educating people about the inhumane industry. It is allowed to flourish in NYC because of political protection - even though more than 75% of New Yorkers want to see it shut down. This blog called Are Horse-Drawn Carriages Humane" covers the usual issues.

The drivers were out in force on this one protecting their turf. in the related blog comments. There are a little more than 300 drivers' licenses issued to individuals but only about half actually work in the industry. No one likes to see jobs being lost. But I am baffled over the concern Council Members and other City officials have. Many people have lost their jobs in the last few years and I have never seen the same reaction. Some of it was caused by new development where employees of the existing businesses that were shut down lost their jobs. Where was the City Council and Christine Quinn then? Why is this tiny industry so entitled? How many other threatened industries do you know of where there is a viable alternative-- an alternative (electric cars) that has been refused. Answers please.

CHARLIE HORSE "DOG" TAGS FOR SALE
remember Charlie and help our organization
horse tag Charlie Horse died on October 23rd. He just dropped dead on W. 54th Street. While the cause of death remains unknown, his demise resonated with so many people throughout the world. Please remember him - the latest victim of this inhumane business.

Thanks to all of you who have purchased a Charlie Tag. Please Note: When you send in a donation, you must indicate that you want a Charlie tag. If you pay by check, write it in the memo section of the check. If by PayPal, please enter "Charlie Tag" where it asks for a description. If you sent in a donation, expecting a Charlie tag but did not receive one, please e-mail me at [email protected] and we will send one out. This helps us to raise some needed funds and to remember Charlie. The tag reads:

  • CHARLIE
  • 10-23-11 R.I.P.
  • NEW YORK CITY
  • CARRIAGE HORSE
  • WWW.BANHDC.ORG
The Horse Tag is shiny aluminum with a long chain. You can either wear it around your neck or put it on a key chain. We are asking $10, including postage. Please go to our donation page by clicking here. You can pay by check or use PayPal. Please indicate that it is for the Charlie Tag.

BRAZILIAN PAPER COVERS THIS ISSUE
the world is taking notice.
A leading Brazilian newspaper, Folha de S.Paulo, has reported on the carriage horse issue in NYC. The positive article, in Portuguese, is only available on line through subscription. It was forwarded to me and I had it translated. Dated January 7, 2012, the title, translated literally, is: Death of horses that take care of tourist in NY generates protests. The article talks about the seven accidents that have happened since July and how we want a ban of this industry. I am quoted as saying that many more accidents probably happened and were not divulged to the press. Bloomberg is quoted as calling them an icon.

WAR HORSE - FLYER WITH US
Saturday, January 21st
Bobby head Please join us to flyer at the War Horse production at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Center:
  • Where: : Lincoln Center - Broadway & 64th St. - meet in the center of the plaza by the fountain
  • When: Saturday, January 21st at 4:30 pm.
Please check our website for possible cancellation due to rain. www.banhdc.org

Please e-mail me for a PDF of the flyer so you can use it on your own. [email protected]. It is specifically for the NYC carriage horse issue. Print out a quantity to hand out flyers at movie showings of War Horse in your neighborhood. The purpose of this is to reach out to people who have been moved by the plight of the horses in War Horse and want to help the NYC carriage horse. We ask them to sign the petition on line. (The picture here is Bobby II Freedom - rescued NYC carriage horse now living at Equine Advocates sanctuary. He is NYC's own War Horse and a looks very much like Joey. Credit K. Wagner)

REPORT HORSE INCIDENTS - IF YOU SEE SOMETHING - SAY SOMETHING
We need you. Be our eyes and ears
aspca car If you see a carriage horse incident, please notify [email protected].
  • Take pictures (crucial) - videos or stills
  • Record exact location of accident - ex. - north/west corner of 60th St. and Broadway
  • Get 4-digit license plate number from back of carriage
  • Provide a narrative - description of what happened
  • Note: Don't worry if you are not sure if what you saw was illegal. We will figure it out. The most important thing is to get the information to us.

You will help to make a difference for these horses. The media learned of six of the last seven accidents from us - the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages. And we learned about it from you!! It makes sense that the DoH and ASPCA know about more -- we have requested this information from both the ASPCA and the DoH. The ASPCA has ignored the request. The DoH only admitted to knowing about three accidents, of which we were aware. The public has a right to know just how unsafe and inhumane this industry is. (picture is of ASPCA car parked off 6th Avenue in the park on 12/24, but this is a common occurrence. The driver never got out of his warm car. There was no way he was able to monitor the carriage drivers. Outrageous.)

SOCIAL MEDIA
Yes we are on Twitter and Facebook -- please join us
We are also in the middle of getting our web site revamped so do not have links to Facebook and Twitter -- but we do have very active accounts. Both Facebook and Twitter are great complements to our weekly e-newsletter and we encourage you to participate with us. Are you on Twitter? If not -- it is easy to sign up. Click here. The Coalition tweets, and we've had a great response. This is a way to stay in touch with us, in real time. We encourage all to "follow" us on Twitter @BanHDCarriages. We'll keep you up to date about accidents, events, demonstrations, actions we'd like you to take, and other ways to help. The messages are short - only 140-characters maximum.

Our official Facebook page is No Walk in the Park. It is an open page and we invite you to "Like" us. We generally post news there as it comes in. We have another page called Horses Without Carriages International, which is tied in with our international coalition.

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 & Nobles. 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.