Yesterday, Intro 0573-2014 was introduced in City Council, which will ban horse-drawn carriages! The relevant section of the bill reads as follows:
§ 5. Section 17-327 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new subdivision f to read as follows:
f. Carriage rides prohibited. As of June first, two thousand sixteen, it shall be unlawful to operate a horse-drawn vehicle in the city of New York or offer rides to the public on a vehicle drawn or pulled by a carriage horse. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, horse-drawn vehicles may be permitted pursuant to a parade, special event or filming permit under conditions imposed by the agency issuing the permit and where the street or location permitted is otherwise closed to regular vehicular traffic. The horse and vehicle must be transported by another appropriate vehicle or vehicles to and from the site of the parade, special event or filming location.
The bill also addresses concerns from those who are fearful that retired carriage horses will end up slaughtered:
§ 6. Section 17-329 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended to read as follows:
[…]
b. A horse shall not be sold or disposed of except in a humane manner, which, for the purposes of this subchapter, shall mean a horse may not be sold or donated to an individual or organization for purposes of slaughter, resale for slaughter, or holding or transport for slaughter. A horse owner shall provide a statement in a form prescribed by the commissioner certifying that the horse will be sold or donated for personal use and not for purposes of slaughter, resale for slaughter, or holding or transporting the horse for slaughter.
c. Records indicating the name, address and telephone number of the individual or organization to whom the horse was sold or donated together with the certification required by subdivision b of this section shall be sent by the owner to the department at least ten days before such sale or donation. A copy of such record shall be maintained by the department.
If you live in NYC please and support the ban, please follow this link via NYCLASS and let your voice be heard!
Also, please kindly vote in this Wall Street Journal poll. Animal advocates are finally in the lead — let’s stay there!
RELATED INFO:
- Legally Brief: Traffic Reports Finally Released in Horse Carriage Accidents, via ALDF
- Five Lies told by the Carriage Horse Industry, via Friends of Animals
- Horse flips out in midtown Manhattan traffic, carriage breaks, animal gets trapped underneath via NYDN [September 2013]
- NYC horse carriage accident caught on camera via CBS [April 2014]
- When Will Enough Be Enough? Another Carriage Horse Accident in NYC via One Green Planet [June 2014]
Categories: Animal Law
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