Comments on: Do New Yorkers Abuse Their Carriage Horses?

By: Desventuras

Desventuras — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 00:49:51 +0000

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.

By: Paige

Paige — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 21:00:19 +0000

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.

By: Proud American

Proud American — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 20:15:29 +0000

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.