Edie Falco, politicians and animal rights activists rally to ban horse carriage rides in NYC’s Central Park.

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Long time coming. Another win for Mamdani. No group too marginalized

This is… not a fucking issue we should be worrying about right now.

do horse cops next edie.

What’s wrong with the horse carriages in New York? (Genuine question)

“I hate animal cruelty! Put it all in farms and slaughterhouses, where I can’t see it!”

https://i.redd.it/6dzir5lrdidh1.gif

She indicates that she’s waited for an end to horse carriage rides nearly 40 years, but in Nurse Jackie, there was an episode that used a horse drawn carriage. The show was filmed in Manhattan, likely the carriage driver and horse were local talent. Where was her compassion for animals then?

Ok so I am all for animal rights. I kind of hate taking the position I’m about to take because its so hard to get people to care about other animals.

But I know some stuff about the horse carriage industry and it really is not that bad in the grand scheme of how we treat other animals. It gets a really outsized reaction from people and while I dont think it needs to exist and it does exploit the horses, it comes in way way below other forms of animal exploitation- like animal testing for cosmetics or literally every animal farmed for meat or fur. Those just happen to be tucked out of sight for most people. And I think removing animals from the commons only makes things worse for them. Carriage horses being a part of tourism keeps them present in people’s lives, and when people dont have any connection to animals except as private property on private property, this struggle and their suffering gets worse.

For carriage horse specifically- their welfare is key to their ability to earn money for these companies. They wear appropriate shoes for the asphalt, and horses actually should not spend too much time lying down- they sleep standing up when they’re healthy. The air quality is no worse for them than the children on the sidewalk who are at the same level as their faces and gases disperse. Harness work is far, far easier on horses than saddle work, since they’re built like suspension bridges, and a full carriage is way below what they can comfortably pull. Carriage horses actually tend to live longer than average lives for horses. Their work is heavily regulated, with oversight from vets, and they arent supposed to work when its too hot or too cold, which is a different measure than whats comfortable for humans. In south carolina, their temperatures are taken before and after each ride back at the stable. New York requires their shifts be a certain length of time, and they are required to get a minimum of 5 weeks of vacation per year on rural pasture, minimum.

For comparison, animals raised for meat spend their entire lives in dark, over crowded, shit filled pens and may never see pasture or daylight. Many privately owned horses are kept their entire lives in stalls, inside barns, without turnout unless paid or provided by their owners. Race horses have major joint issues by the time theyre 5 or 6 years old, compared to carriage horses who are often sound into their late 20s. Horses that compete in steeplechases and jumping REGULARLY break their legs and are euthanized before theyre 10 years old. And why would we start with well loved, well treated carriage horses while horses are being used for fox hunts and policing?

Its not a perfect industry and I’m sure abuses happen, but it truly is not as bad as people seem to think. If you still eat meat or dairy, you are doing far more harm to animals than the horse carriage industry. And if the argument is that it’s “unnecessary” neither is cosmetic testing on animals (nor eating meat/dairy). Ideally, we would find ways to coexist with these domesticated animals in more humane, less exploitative ways, but carriage work might be a relatively sustainable way to keep horses in existence and in peoples lives.