Please End NYC Horse Carriages NOW!

marroyo@council.nyc.gov, avella@council.nyc.gov, baez@council.nyc.gov, brewer@council.nyc.gov, comrie@council.nyc.gov, ecrowley@council.nyc.gov, deblasio@council.nyc.gov, emdilan@council.nyc.gov, rarbeloc@council.nyc.gov, mathieu.eugene@council.nyc.gov, felder@council.nyc.gov, fidler@council.nyc.gov, foster@council.nyc.gov, garodnick@council.nyc.gov, gennaro@council.nyc.gov, vgentile@council.nyc.gov, agerson@council.nyc.gov, gioia@council.nyc.gov, gonzalez@council.nyc.gov, Ignizio@council.nyc.gov, ljames@council.nyc.gov, katz@council.nyc.gov, koppell@council.nyc.gov, lappin@council.nyc.gov, liu@council.nyc.gov, viverito@council.nyc.gov, martinez@council.nyc.gov, darlene.mealy@council.nyc.gov, rmendez@council.nyc.gov, palma@council.nyc.gov, recchia@council.nyc.gov, rivera@council.nyc.gov, sanders@council.nyc.gov, seabrook@council.nyc.gov, sears@council.nyc.gov, vacca@council.nyc.gov, vann@council.nyc.gov, weprin@council.nyc.gov, twhite@council.nyc.gov, yassky@council.nyc.gov, barron@council.nyc.gov, dickens@council.nyc.gov, oddo@council.nyc.gov, quinn@council.nyc.gov, reyna@council.nyc.gov, stewart@council.nyc.gov, vallone@council.nyc.gov

Dear New York Council Members:

Many New Yorkers want to rescue NYC's carriage horses from a life of slavery and shut down the horse-drawn carriage trade. In three years, they have succeeded in bringing worldwide attention to this
anachronistic and inhumane industry and are close to making a ban a
reality. On January 30 the City Council Consumer Affairs Committee held a public hearing on two carriage horse bills. There was no vote.

The City Council likes to claim horses and buggies are a tourist attraction. But when I visit your city, this is not the thing I do. What about museums, theater, night life, shopping and restaurants? Will NYC survive without carriage horses? I certainly think so.

As a tourist to your great city, it is troubling to see that New York City still has an inhumane horse-carriage trade. These 19th century slow moving conveyances do not belong in a crowded and congested 21st century city. They impede the flow of traffic, getting in the way of ambulances, fire trucks and police cars - not to mention cars, taxis, buses, bikers and pedestrians. Horses suffer in more ways than can be imagined starting with a denial of their innate horse nature. Please support the bill to ban this industry. New York should join the ranks of cities like London, Paris, Toronto, Oxford and Beijing, which have banned the carriage trade. Tourists come to NYC for its wonderful museums, theater, night life, restaurants and shopping. The carriage trade brings shame to your city. I will not travel to New York as long as this inhumane industry continues to operate.

Sincerely,