Unintended Consequences: Save The Horses! (Send Them To The Glue Factory)
New York's new Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday:
"We are going to get rid of horse carriages, period. We are going to quickly and aggressively move to make horse carriages no longer a part of the landscape. . . . They are not humane. They are not appropriate for the year 2014. It's over. So, just watch us do it."
The quote is from an NRO piece by Jillian Kay Melchior explaining that the ban will hurt tourists, the drivers, and the horses:
And while the new mayor has made no secret of the scorn he bears for the property of New York City's richest residents, in this case he's also disregarding the rights of small-business owners like Malone, who are struggling to remain in the middle class.Malone owns his own carriage and two horses, and uses his earnings to support his wife and three kids. His father, an Irish immigrant, drove horses in Central Park before him, teaching his son the trade from age 9. Before that, four generations of Malone's family worked as blacksmiths in Ireland, "so you can say horses are in my blood," he says.
"I'm a New Yorker -- I don't scare easy," Malone adds. "But don't get me wrong. Any time it's not in your hands, it's scary. . . . What it would mean to me personally would be the end of my lineage. It would be unconstitutional, un-American to steal my business, to take my horse away from me. And I'm 44, been doing this for 26 years. That pretty much makes me unemployable for anything else."
Malone may fare poorly if de Blasio gets his way, but his horse could fare even worse.
Horses are expensive -- with food and boarding, they can cost thousands a month -- so they're particularly vulnerable in the bad economy. And a horse's unemployment crisis can have deadly implications; the fact that no slaughterhouses are currently in operation in the United States, far from preventing horse deaths, has resulted in the outsourcing of slaughter for animals that have become too pricey for their owners. Up to 100,000 American horses are shipped to their demise in Mexico and Canada each year.
"A lucky horse is a horse with a job and a purpose," Malone explains. Central Park's tourism circuit employs about 200 horses. If the industry were banned, these horses would be jeopardized, and even if their high profile won them a new pasture home, they'd almost certainly displace other horses around the country, causing more slaughters -- a fact acknowledged by de Blasio's predecessor.
Contrary to popular belief, the Central Park horses are well cared for, says Christina Hansen, a Central Park carriage driver and the founder of Blue Star Equiculture, a nonprofit group that helps provide for and pasture homeless and retired horses.
The only way to save a horse (or anything else on the planet) is to give it a job and a reason for existing. Without that, the animal in singular, or species as a whole, is gone.
Momof4 at January 5, 2014 11:05 PM
Better slaughtered and eventually extinct rather than alive and suffering at the hands of humans. The planet ain't big enough for humans as well as animals unless the animals are pets.
redrajesh at January 6, 2014 12:43 AM
Anyone who thinks these animals are abused is a fool. They are going to be as well taken care of as possible because they allow the owner to make money.
It's not like they are racing up and down the streets. They are pulling a relatively light carriage 8-10 hours a day.
I also wonder if the brilliant mayor is going to order the NYPD equine unit to be disbanded as well? And if it is cruel to use horses, what about canines?
Jim P. at January 6, 2014 6:05 AM
New Yorkers elected an out-and-out Communist. It was the stupidist thing since the Gazans elected Hamas. de Blasio is a big admirer of David Dinkins. This is just the beginning. Just watch. (Preferably from a distance.)
Cousin Dave at January 6, 2014 6:36 AM
And after the horses are gone just what does Mayor Commie think will come next?
Well, I'll tell him - human drawn carriages; they already have them now. They are called rickshaws or pedicabs. Without the horse-drawn carriages, more folks will take to the pedicabs.
So, Mayor commie thinks its cruel to have horses as beasts of burden; but, not humans?
So, NYC begins (another) descent into hell; move over Detroit, ya gotta make room for NYC!
Charles at January 6, 2014 8:44 AM
An interesting development to this story this morning. Apparently a business owner who stands to benefit from the banning of horse-drawn carriages (in favor of reproduction antique electric cars) made substantial campaign contributions to DeBlasio's mayoral campaign. Just some more dreary pay-to-play corruption.
alittlesense at January 6, 2014 10:39 AM
What a fucking asshat. Those carriage rides are awesome! I usually go on one at least once a year. I LOVE them. And those horses are cared for better than some kids are cared for! Those carriages are an institution! What a bastard!
Flynne at January 6, 2014 10:54 AM
I also wonder if the brilliant mayor is going to order the NYPD equine unit to be disbanded as well? And if it is cruel to use horses, what about canines?
I wonder, will the horse races be stopped? Those horse are bred to have lighter bones, meaning the get shot after a couple of seasons and break their ankles
lujlp at January 6, 2014 9:24 PM
So, Mayor commie thinks its cruel to have horses as beasts of burden; but, not humans?
Humans can quit the job if they don't like it, they can bargain on rates, they can decide how much of earnings to use for various heads etc etc. Horses cannot. They get whipped, starved, denied medical care, driven off into the back alleys where they have to subsist on garbage etc, they cannot do anything except put up with it or hope for some stranger who cares about their plight to come and save them.
redrajesh at January 7, 2014 1:53 AM
Now we know the reason, he wants to steal the stable property for his friends.
New York City’s horse-drawn carriage crisis:
Jim P. at January 7, 2014 12:26 PM
Redrajesh, you're an idiot! Those horses are better cared for than some KIDS who live in New York! Their owners know that without their horses, they wouldn't be able to make a living! Their horses are their bread and butter! Oh and I have NEVER seen a carriage driver starve or deny his horse medical care. And never are they fed garbage! You, however, seem to think you can post garbage and people will swallow it.
Flynne at January 8, 2014 8:07 AM
"They get whipped, starved, denied medical care, driven off into the back alleys where they have to subsist on garbage etc, they cannot do anything except put up with it or hope for some stranger who cares about their plight to come and save them."
Sounds like India.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at January 8, 2014 8:16 PM
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