NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A new ad campaign targeting New York City Council members was launched Tuesday by an animal rights group in order to urge the leaders to ban horse carriages.
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The six-figure ad, made by New Yorkers for Clean, Livable, and Safe Streets (NYCLASS), is 30 seconds long and will be featured on social media sites in 15 specific lawmakers districts. The ad shows footage from when a carriage horse named Ryder collapsed in Manhattan last month and was whipped by his driver to “Get up!”
“There are no more excuses for allowing animal and worker abuses," Edita Birnkrant, executive director of NYCLASS told the New York Post. "The Ryder collapse and cover-up exposed the complicity of carriage horse owners and their union allies in industry-wide abuse and corruption. With the whole world watching, they lied about Ryder’s age, they lied about his health, and now they are facing a criminal investigation.”
The group is trying to reach Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and council members Shaun Abreu, Alexa Avilés, Diana Ayala, Justin Brannan, Gale Brewer, Carmen de la Rosa, Amanda Farias, Oswald Feliz, Crystal Hudson, Shekar Krishnan, Julie Menin, Carlina Rivera, Lynn Schulman and Marjorie Velazquez.
Queens Councilman Robert Holden sponsored a bill which would phase out horse carriages by June 1, 2024, replacing them with electric ones. The bill was supported by 14 other council members.
The video of Ryder collapsing caused widespread outcry which prompted the union representing carriage horse drivers to implement changes including more access to water and shade trees at carriage stands, additional heat regulations and safety hitching posts. The union told the Post it does not think the new ad campaign will be successful.
“We take the NYCLASS campaign seriously. But we believe in science and facts. We believe the council won’t be fooled by NYCLASS,” said Christina Hansen, a carriage driver and representative for Transport Workers Union 100. “We are a well-regulated industry. The carriages are happy, healthy and well protected.”
After Ryder’s collapse, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office also decided to look more into the incident which happened on Aug. 10 around 5 p.m. at Ninth Avenue near the intersection of West 45th Street.
Ryder’s carriage driver, Ian McKeever, lied about the horse’s age to police, saying he was 13-years-old. A veterinary exam later showed the Ryder is between 28 and 30 years old. He was also found to be malnourished, underweight and suffering from the equine neurological disorder EPM (Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis).
“Animals should be treated humanely, and we take any incident of animal cruelty extremely seriously,” a spokesman for DA Alvin Bragg told the Post. “We are reviewing the incident.”
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