{"id":844,"date":"2014-12-18T13:59:30","date_gmt":"2014-12-18T13:59:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/?p=844"},"modified":"2014-12-18T17:44:11","modified_gmt":"2014-12-18T17:44:11","slug":"horse-carriage-ban-human-cost-and-misinformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/animal-policy\/horse-carriage-ban-human-cost-and-misinformation\/","title":{"rendered":"Horse Carriage Ban: The Human Cost and Animal Welfare Misinformation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two New York\u00a0state senators, Democrats\u00a0Diane Savino and Jose Peralta, have come out strongly<\/a> against New York City mayor Bill de Blasio’s push\u00a0to ban horse carriages<\/a>. In a letter, they illustrate how\u00a0the\u00a0horse carriage industry provides great, unionized work for hundreds of people, that it is a major\u00a0tourist attraction<\/a>, and that it is safe and highly regulated — all very good things.<\/p>\n

Bravo to Savino and Peralta for standing up and publicly recognizing the human cost of banning horse carriages!<\/p>\n

But while this is an important message to get out, the anti-carriage horse activists will not be swayed by talk of jobs and tourism lost; their argument has always been that the horses are being treated cruelly.<\/p>\n

This is a serious charge — we all love horses and want to see them treated well. So do these claims of abuse stand up to scrutiny? Not according to\u00a0the\u00a0experts who love and heal animals<\/a>.\u00a0In a letter to Mayor de Blasio from the New York State Veterinary Medical Society, they state emphatically<\/a>\u00a0that opponents of horse-drawn carriages are misinformed about the “inhumane” working conditions for horses, and that:<\/p>\n

\n

Carriage horses generally live a long life during which they are ensured regular examinations and treatment by equine veterinarians, live in structurally sound and safe stables, have adequate supply of food and water, and ample opportunities for socialization with others of their species. Existing New York City Regulations offer extensive guidelines that require ample rest periods, moderate driving paces, and protections from extreme weather conditions.<\/em><\/p>\n

The equine practitioner members of the NYSVMS, both within the City of New York and elsewhere, have familiarized themselves with the conditions under which these animals live and work and find they are healthy, happy, well-fed and sheltered. They are the recipients of the best level of health care possible.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The American Veterinary Medical Association and\u00a0American Association of Equine Practitioners have weighed\u00a0in as well<\/a>, and their accounts of clean stables with healthy, well-fed, and mentally sound horses are\u00a0also very positive — a far cry from what the anti-carriage horse activists are claiming.<\/p>\n

It is telling that people\u00a0who take the time to visit the horses in their stables confidently\u00a0declare them “happy and well-cared-for,”<\/a> while people who have never<\/em> visited the stables remain convinced that the horses are\u00a0abused and suffering<\/a>. Apparently, facts do\u00a0not matter when you have already made up your mind.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, most people do<\/em> allow reason to shape their opinions. While jobs are obviously very important, it is also important we combat\u00a0the misinformation about carriage horses that persists despite\u00a0expert opinion and the facts!<\/p>\n

\"Carriage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is telling that people who take the time to visit the horses in their stables confidently declare them “happy and well-cared-for,” while people who have never visited the stables cannot be convinced that the horses aren’t abused and suffering. Apparently, facts do not matter when you have already made up your mind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,4],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=844"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":861,"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844\/revisions\/861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}