On Wednesday the City Comptroller in New York audited the City agencies responsible for vet checks and carriage inspections on the carriages that run through The City.
The findings are really rather grim if you consider these horses are used for pleasure strolls through a park. For them to suffer any horse abuse at all is criminal.
The Facts
There are 221 licensed horses and 68 carriages working in New York City. In the grand scheme of things these numbers are minimal, and could easily have been inspected and vet checked in a week.
The Audit
Last year a 17 year old carriage horse dropped dead in Central Park in front of a crowd of people. How horrifying is that? To be on vacation on a carriage ride in Central Park and suddenly the horse that is pulling you drops dead.
The audit targeted spots zoned and designated for carriages to wait for fares. It was determined that the horses were standing there without adequate shade, without accessible water spigots for proper hydration, and withouth proper drainage for their waste.
And it took them until now to audit the agencies responsible for preventing this very thing from happening.
What Now?
Animal rights activists have always protested the treatment of these animals forced to work on concrete in a busy city. The fact that the City agencies have dropped the ball to such a degree is truly sad.
As a result, the health department is developing an advisory board (in the fall) and intends to increase inspections
Problem solved?
Call me a cynic, but what a waste of time. If they focused their efforts on planting a tree or two; providing adequate spigots for water; cutting open a wider strip for drainage; and enforcing bi-yearly vet checks the problem would be solved and no tax dollars would be wasted.
Right?
The Agencies Responsible
The City Department of Consumer Affairs is responsible for inspecting carriages and licensing drivers.
Department of Health and Mental Hygiene regulates horse vet checks and stable conditions.
The Real Deal
This is not an article accusing these drivers of being terrible to their animals. The fault is solely with the City agencies, the ones in place to ensure that the drivers have adequate facilities to take care of them properly.
It IS a good photo! Glad you brought this issue up. As a decades long horse business owner I agree that conditions for horses on city streets, in high motorized traffic areas, in extreme heat or cold as NYC experiences is a working environment dangerous to their health and welfare. Especially since they must travel through rush hour traffic to get to and from their hack stands from (some) sub-par stables.
BUT I totally DISAGREE that city agencies are primarily responsible for the basic care of food, water, shelter, protection, and socialization of these or any animals. The owner is responsible. The BUSINESS owner who earns a profit over and above a living from the carriage trade is responsible.
Administering the oversight you recommend certainly would cost tax dollars, and is ONLY advisable when horse owners are suspected of failing to fulfill their obligations to the animals, or to confirm to the citizenry that they are providing reasonable care.
The people of New York do not have to provide a convenient water source to businesses making profits from the tourist trade. The businesses do. Any smart business person who doesn’t want his horse collapsing from heat exhaustion or dehydration on the NY pavement, but wants to earn fares from the horse’s toil should mortgage his apartment to pay to install that spigot or provide a retractable awning or plant a tree. Why can’t the cabbies pool their resources to create decent hack stands for their businesses like they have in so many other tourist spots that have Old Town carriage rides?
You are 100% correct that the common sense obvious solutions are simple. You are 100% wrong about whose responsibility it is to implement them. The problem should never have existed in the first place. Shame on the carriage businesses.
Hi Proud American,
Thanks for your comment. Clearly you know a thing or two about the situation and I’m glad you spoke up.
Sounds like I need to do some more research on this topic. I agree that owners are completely responsible for their animals well being, unfortunately I see too many owners disregard that notion. (Especially when it comes to working animals).
The way I see it, animals shouldn’t be allowed within city limits unless there are proper facilities for them. At the same time, any responsible animal owner wouldn’t work their animal under sub-par conditions.
The city does profit from the carriage business because it is part of the tourism industry as a whole. Plus carriage drivers pay taxes (and I’m sure they pay the city for licensing too).
Here is the article where I found most of my information (if you haven’t already read it) Comptrollers suggestions for carriage horses.
It IS a good photo! Glad you brought this issue up. As a decades long horse business owner I agree that conditions for horses on city streets, in high motorized traffic areas, in extreme heat or cold as NYC experiences is a working environment dangerous to their health and welfare. Especially since they must travel through rush hour traffic to get to and from their hack stands from (some) sub-par stables.BUT I totally DISAGREE that city agencies are primarily responsible for the basic care of food, water, shelter, protection, and socialization of these or any animals. The owner is responsible. The BUSINESS owner who earns a profit over and above a living from the carriage trade is responsible.Administering the oversight you recommend certainly would cost tax dollars, and is ONLY advisable when horse owners are suspected of failing to fulfill their obligations to the animals, or to confirm to the citizenry that they are providing reasonable care.The people of New York do not have to provide a convenient water source to businesses making profits from the tourist trade. The businesses do. Any smart business person who doesn’t want his horse collapsing from heat exhaustion or dehydration on the NY pavement, but wants to earn fares from the horse’s toil should mortgage his apartment to pay to install that spigot or provide a retractable awning or plant a tree. Why can’t the cabbies pool their resources to create decent hack stands for their businesses like they have in so many other tourist spots that have Old Town carriage rides?You are 100% correct that the common sense obvious solutions are simple. You are 100% wrong about whose responsibility it is to implement them. The problem should never have existed in the first place. Shame on the carriage businesses.