NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) — An animal rights organization held a rally supporting the end of the horse-drawn carriage industry in New York City on Wednesday as a coachman faced animal cruelty charges in Manhattan Criminal Court related to the viral 2022 collapse and later death of carriage horse Ryder.
New Yorkers for Clean, Livable, and Safe Streets (NYCLASS) organized the rally to both support accountability regarding animal abuse, and advocate for the end of the NYC horse-drawn carriage industry by means of the City Council.
Advocates planned a 12 p.m. rally following a 9 a.m. court appearance by coachman Ian McKeever, 55, who faces animal cruelty-related charges.
McKeever, 55, was charged with one class A misdemeanor count of overdriving, torturing and injuring animals, and failure to provide sustenance, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
The charges hit on Nov. 15 amid continued activism supporting Ryder’s Law, to ban the horse-drawn carriage industry and move toward electric carriages.
The bill was brought into the NYC Council, supported by councilmembers like Robert Holden, following the summer 2022 caught-on-camera collapse of 26-year old carriage horse Ryder on a Hell’s Kitchen street due to exhaustion and lack of water.
Video footage also caught McKeever repeatedly hitting Ryder and trying to force him to stand by “pulling on the reins, yelling, and using a whip,” according to the district attorney’s office.
Ryder was euthanized months later due to his poor health and medical conditions, officials said.
“We’re going to be outside of the Manhattan Criminal Court House while the animal abuser Ian McKeever is being prosecuted to remind people that this is what New Yorkers want, they want to see an end to this kind of criminal abuse and cruelty,” Executive Director of NYCLASS Edita Birkrant told 1010 WINS/WCBS 880 of Wednesday’s rally.
Birkrant and other activists support electric carriages as an alternative to the industry, or the use of petty cabs. She told 1010 WINS/WCBS 880 that other horses the organization has seen and reported are also senior horses showing signs of poor health and neglect.
McKeever, who has worked in the industry for decades, has pleaded not guilty to the charge and claims that he has never hurt a horse.
“We can’t undo the horrible suffering and cruelty that Ryder endured, and that he ultimately died from, but what we can do is urge the City Council to pass the legislation that would shut this criminal abuse down,” Birkrant said.
Judge Michael Ryan adjourned for the day, and McKeever is expected to return to court on April 2, according to court records.