Animal rights advocates raise bloody hell in Midtown
Animal activists gathered at 618 West 52nd St. stables calling for elected officials to ban horse carriages on Sept. 27.
BY DEAN MOSES
Animal rights activists demanded
an end to New York’s horse carriage
industry in bloody fashion
on Monday, Sept. 27, following a grisly
collision between a work equine and traffi c
last week.
Organized by NYClass and PETA, the
seething group of protesters converged
outside the stables at 618 West 52nd St.,
where they plastered caution tape to the
walls and doors of the site. Demanding
that elected offi cials fast-track legislation to
outlaw horse-drawn carriages permanently,
the group cited an accident that occurred
on Sept. 23 in Midtown in which a horse
named Chief was seen fl ailing on the
PHOTOS BY DEAN MOSES
ground after striking a BMW.
Dramatic video from the scene not only
shows the animal in clear distress, but also
large amounts of blood splattered across
the pavement.
Activists plastered blood caution tape around the horse stable.
“Our message is simple: This horse
abuse has to end. New York City is one
of the last large cities that still allows this
kind of animal abuse on our streets. We
are demanding that the New York City
Council and Mayor de Blasio get these
horses off the streets. How many more
bloody crashes, collapses, horse deaths, human
injuries have to happen before we end
this city sanctioned out of animal abuse?”
said Edita Birnkrant, executive director of
NYCLASS.
Activists not only called the horse carriage
industry a bloody trade, but they also
showed it by pouring fake blood over the
sidewalk directly in front of the stables
while chanting “There’s no excuse for horse
abuse!”
Republican mayoral hopeful Curtis
Sliwa also attended the rally, lending his
voice to the cause. Although Sliwa joined
in condemning carriages and Mayor Bill de
Blasio for failing to keep his promise to outlaw
them, NYCLASS also made it known
that they do not endorse his platform.
In response to the accusations of cruelty,
Christinia Hansen, a New York City
carriage driver and spokesperson for the
carriage industry, called the protesters
“radicalists” who she believes bank on
horse injuries occurring to further their
platform.
“This is the typical response of a group
of people who wake up every morning hoping
that something bad is going to happen
to a carriage horse because it advances
their radical horse agenda. They want to
eliminate all animals from all human interaction,
like you shouldn’t honey because it
exploits the bees,” Hansen said, asserting
that she goes to work ensuring the horses
are happy, healthy, and safe.
She reports that Chief is expected to
make a full recovery. However, Birnkrant
claimed that stables simply stitch the
horse back up for it to return to dangerous
conditions.
Christinia Hansen, a New York City carriage driver and spokesperson for the
carriage industry.
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