During this winter season, people dream of the fairy-tale-like ride through the streets of New York City on a horse-drawn carriage with their loved ones, but doing so is abuse towards the horses. In March of 2020, an article was released by The New York Times about a horse named Aisha. “The large brown horse stumbled multiple times in Central Park [... ] before collapsing onto the pavement.” (New York Times). This is an unfortunate event but not uncommon. A few days into 2021, another “New york city horse named Billy collapsed on an icy Central Park road [since] the driver forced the horse to continue pulling the passengers” even after the horse showed signs of exhaustion (Karmagawa). Although these two events of animal abuse are extremely significant, according to Karmagawa, “This is the second case of abuse in 4 days.” These animals have suffered not only because of being pushed past exhaustion but also because the conditions of the city are not comfortable for the animals. Knowing of the intense weather conditions, the concrete which their hooves are unaccustomed to, and the weight they carry which is larger than their bodies, usually for more than 8 hours, it is cruel and inhumane to let people continue to fund something that is abusing the horses like this. The solution to this issue would be to sign this petition to reach the attention of Corey Johnson and the New York City Council, who would be able to make a change and ban horse-drawn carriages. 

Citations: (Image also from Gothamist article)

'Terrified' Carriage Horse Falls In Columbus Circle. 3 Oct. 2018, gothamist.com/news/terrified-carriage-horse-falls-in-columbus-circle.

“The Cruelty of Horse-Drawn Carriages.” PETA, 10 Jan. 2019, www.peta.org/issues/animals-in-entertainment/horse-drawn-carriages/

https://secure.mediapeta.com/peta/PDF/HDC_Incidents_Factsheet_JO.pdf

Gold, Michael. An N.Y.C. Carriage Horse Died. Video of Its Collapse Stirred Outrage. 2 Mar. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/03/02/nyregion/horse-carriage-collapse-nyc.html

“Horse-Drawn Carriages Are Wrong.” PETA Kids, 23 Aug. 2018, www.petakids.com/save-animals/horse-drawn-carriages/