SafetyIssues Personal and Public Safety News Articles: Carriage Horses: Should They Be Banned?  

Carriage Horses: Should They Be Banned?
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~ Staff writer for safetyissues.com on 09/16/07 10:25:00
 
The 13-year-old female carriage horse named Smoothie had been startled by a
street performer pounding away on a drum. It galloped nearly a block before it
bolted into the tree. Another horse was spooked when people crowded around
Smoothie. The second horse, still attached to its carriage, ran into the busy
street. The buggy hit a car. Luckily, this horse was unhurt although both buggy
and car had minor damage.
There have been numerous accidents involving carriages and vehicles; horses have
died in some of them. Before Friday’s accident, there were collisions in June
and July, where horses were injured.
Animal-rights activists have tried a long time to have horses banned from city
streets. But the horse carriage rides are an old tradition and an iconic tourist
attraction. The reality, according to activists, is that the horses are housed
in decrepit, cramped and noisy stables and are exposed to the dangers of heavy
traffic.
The NYC Comptroller’s office last week released an audit report that confirmed
the activists’ complaints. The office found that horses are not given
sufficient water or shade, and that the City departments of Health and Mental
Hygiene and of Consumer Affairs have been deficient in their oversight functions
on the carriage-horse industry.
The Comptroller’s audit analyzed the adequacy of controls over carriage-horse
industry licensing. The City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) and
the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) handle overseeing and licensing of
horses, carriage drivers, carriages and stables.
The audit findings include:
* Failure by DOHMH to create an Advisory Board required by the City, which would
set rules regulating the industry, including age limits for horses, and sizes of
horse stalls.
* No written guidelines on when and how often stables should be inspected. The
agency’s veterinarian visited stables only five times in 2006 and there were
no examinations done on horses in the field.
* The agencies did not perform their regulatory responsibilities. They depended
on volunteer efforts from the ASPCA to perform the monitoring functions on the
stables, horses, drivers and carriages in the field. The agencies have not drawn
up any formal agreement covering ASPCA’s voluntary efforts.
* Various lapses in the licensing process, including issuance of certificates of
health on horses.
Activists said the audit report confirms their position: that the industry
cannot operate humanely in NYC. Drivers continue to disobey the law yet there is
no agency that stops them. They repeated their demands for the ban, on the
grounds that it is inhumane to the horses, and is a safety and traffic issue for
humans.
The Comptroller said the carriage-horse industry is an important element in the
City’s charm and appeal.