November 15, 2025 • 26 mins
It’s one of the most heartbreaking, controversial issues in New York City. And just last night, the proposed ban for the carriage horses was denied! I talked exclusively with the executive director of NYCLASS before this bill was killed. As Edita Birnkrant tells the heartbreaking realities of what these horses go through on a daily basis. But we still can make a difference! You must listen to this show because your voice can STILL be heard to save them!
EPISODE NOTES: Breaking News Affecting NYC Carriage Horses! Ryder’s Law Fails to Pass
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EPISODE NOTES: Breaking News Affecting NYC Carriage Horses! Ryder’s Law Fails to Pass
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/rappaport-to-the-rescue-on-pet-life-radio-petliferadio-com--6667849/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is Pet Life Radio. Let's talk Pets.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Wrap Report to the Rescue with award winning animal advocate,
best selling author, journalist, and pet products creator Jill Rappaport.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Welcome to Rappaport to the Rescue. I'm Jill Rappaport.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Today we're going to talk about a subject that truly
gives me great pain and heartache, the carriage horses of
New York City. I have been a resident in the
Big Apple since the early eighties, and while the carriage
horses have been a part of the landscape forever, it
is something that has never sat right with me. I
cannot bear to look at those horses with all that
(00:45):
gear wrapped around their heads and bodies, pulling multiple people
in that huge carriage in the worst of conditions sometimes
and horrible temperatures, not to mention all the noise and
chaos as they're forced to go up down those hard
cement's streets. I have never felt that this was something
that should be allowed, and I think is inhumane to
(01:10):
all of the unfortunate horses that so sadly have been
selected for this horrific job, which to date has tragically
taken the lives of so many of our beloved horses,
we are going to talk with Adida Bernkrant. Now, this
is a lady that is truly doing something about this problem.
(01:31):
As the executive director of ny CLASS, which stands for
New Yorkers for Clean, Livable and Safe Streets, this is
such an important and life saving discussion for our beautiful
horses that definitely deserve better. So if you love horses
and care about their well being, this is a discussion
(01:52):
you do not want to bess. But on a breaking
news note, and after we did this interview with Adida,
Rider's Law, named after the carriage horse rider who collapsed
and died in twenty twenty two, failed to pass just yesterday,
But that does not mean that the push to end
this inhumane treatment ends. However, the next council will likely
(02:15):
need to introduce a new bill and start this grueling
and heartbreaking process all over again. So when we come back,
you will hear all about what these horses are going
through and why we still can help because we never
can stop being the voice for the voiceless.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Stay tuned.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
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Speaker 4 (03:14):
Let's talk pets on Petlife Radio dot com.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Welcome back to Rappaport to the Rescue.
Speaker 5 (03:25):
I'm Joe Rappaport, and I am really happy to finally
talk to someone that's doing something about a situation that
has been just so heartbreaking for me to witness as
a New Yorker for decades. Adita Bernkrant, I am so
happy you are here, Ny class, and this is such
a horrific situation, which, thank goodness, it looks like there
(03:48):
may be a light at the end of this frightening tunnel.
Speaker 6 (03:52):
Yes, thank you, Jill. I. I am so delighted that
you have me on. I know how passionate you are
about this, and we just want to all so announce
some news that there was a poll, a Zogby poll
that shows that seventy eight percent of a wide cross
section of New Yorker's support banning horse carriages that want
riders a law past Exactly.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
I just heard about this poll and when you consider
seventy eight percent, and they're opting for the electric carriages,
that's what they want. They're not saying get rid of carriages,
they just don't want horses pulling them.
Speaker 6 (04:25):
Yeah, I think you know, people want any alternative that's
a humane alternative. We already have petticab tours of the
park that are wildly popular, more popular, and actually there
was an NPR piece that came out that there was
a survey done by the reporter of tourists in the
park and the majority of them don't want to take
(04:46):
a horse carriage drive. This is what we're hearing over
and over. There has been so many of these viral
videos of horses dropping dead, running wild, injuring people, crashing.
These videos go around the world and millions of people
see them. They don't want to come to New York
City and risk their lives in a horse that could
take off at any time and crash, or give money
(05:09):
to a business that's neglecting and abusing horses. You know,
we see in report so many of them that are
like basically crippled horses with disintegrating hoofs, leg lameness, untreated injuries, arthritis,
many of them elderly horses that should already have been
retired years ago, that are just forced to pound the
(05:30):
pavement put into midtown traffic they're stabling is horrendous. Anyone
who knows about horses, Jill, have you ever seen in
modern day stables that are multi levels where horses are
forced up steep ramps to live on upper levels of buildings.
It doesn't exist in the modern era exactly.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
And I'm a pet parent who's several horses in my
own farm, and they live I think, since some cases
better than me. I take care of their teeth more
than I take care of mine. So I revere them
for the majestic, beautiful animals they are, and I treat
them the way they should be treated. So to witness
this carriage horse situation, I can't even look at it
(06:12):
because it breaks my heart so much.
Speaker 6 (06:14):
That's what seventy eight percent of New Yorkers feel, you know,
and especially people who work or live near the park
or in Hell's Kitchen where just in August, a fifteen
year old mare named Lady, collapsed and dropped dead right
in broad daylight, right on eleventh Avenue and forty fifth Street.
This beautiful horse had just been a few weeks ago,
(06:36):
taken from a rural environment thrown into the concrete jungle
of New York City, collapsed shortly after leaving the stable.
I mean, these horses are being worked to death. And
you know that horses are pasture animals, They're herd animals.
They're meant to be grazing when you look at their
living and working conditions. If they're pulling carriages on the
(06:58):
asphalt in Central Park, never touching grass, they go back
to the far west side, through the worst traffic to
these multi level buildings stables that do not and should
not exist in the modern world because they're wildly unsafe
and and humane. There's no pasture for these animals. There's
no freedom of movement. Their stalls are only required to
(07:20):
be sixty square feet, that is half the recommended size.
I mean, you know that horses need at least a
twelve by twelve and if it's a large draft horse,
they should have fourteen by fourteen.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Sixteen by sixteen. They should have what brood mares have.
Speaker 6 (07:34):
So imagine that only by law sixty square feet. That
is heartbreaking for and that's their whole life. They're in
this tiny solitary confinement prison cell. They're never touching grass.
They don't even have an exercise ring dirt, they have nothing.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
And the survey that was favored by seventy eight percent
of New Yorkers, which is so wonderful. It's called Rider's Law. Now,
Rider was a horse that also collapsed and died. It
was named after him.
Speaker 6 (08:03):
Yes, Rider was a really heartbreaking situation, and I think
it highlights the emergency situation here. So Ryder was actually
twenty six years old, which is a senior horse. His
owner falsified and forged his health records to say he
was thirteen. And Rider was found to be riddled with
cancer and many other ailments. So they just mercilessly worked
(08:28):
this elderly sick horse with cancer until his body gave
out on Hell's Kitchen on Ninth Avenue and it became
a worldwide outrage was generated. This heartbreaking video of this
horse could not get up for an hour. NYPD mounted
police took over. They were hosing Rider, they were dumping
ice on him. It took an hour to get him up,
(08:50):
and by the time he was given vet care it
was too late. He had cancer, he had all these
untreatment ailments, and he later died. And that's another case
of horse being worked to death. How on earth does
a twenty six year old horse riddled with cancer even
get approved to be worked, right, that's that work for
the carriage owners. Just rubber stamp these horses. They all
(09:14):
get a perfect bill of health. Lady who dropped dead
in August got a perfect bill of health. Rider gets
a perfect bill of health. There was a horse named
Ayesha a few years ago who also collapsed and later died.
She had an untreatment disease called polysaccharide storage myopathy, which
is very rarely fatal. It's something that's treated with diet.
(09:35):
All these horses just get no vet care.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
But thanks to you, as executive director of NY Class,
things are moving in the right direction. Tell us about
what we can hopefully look forward to. Well, we have
incredible momentum, not only a majority of New Yorkers, but
the Central Park Conservancy, which manages Central Park. In August
came out very strongly urging the City Council to pass
(09:59):
riders Life. They have never taken a position on this.
They don't usually take any political positions, but they felt
so strongly after there were four violent runaway horse disasters
in the park that injured park goers. People were nearly trampled.
They pointed out that the infrastructure of the park, the
roads are damaged from these carriages. The manure poses a problem.
(10:21):
The drivers don't follow the laws. They said, in order
to protect the well being and safety of the park goers.
Speaker 6 (10:29):
You know what is it, forty three million people visit
the park every year. You need to remove these carriages.
So that's more momentum on our side. We know that
most tourists don't want to take these rides. We have
twenty council members so far that have co sponsored Rider's Law,
but we need a hearing for riders Law. It's been
blocked unfortunately the Speaker of the Council, Speaker Adrian Adams,
(10:52):
has blocked this legislation. It's outrageous because it's untemocratic when
you have a bill like this that would save the
lives of these horses and protect the jobs of the
drivers and it's being blocked. Lives are at risk. So
we've really been urging and pushing Adriene Adams to we
still have time left to get a hearing for this
(11:13):
bill to move it forward. We believe if we had
a hearing and there was a vote, this bill would
pass and we could get it done this year. But
there's a sort of sort of political corruption going on
and that hasn't happened.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Well, you're up against the union too. Talk about this
union director, the union head, who basically is saying what
you're doing is criminal ray.
Speaker 6 (11:36):
Right, it's pretty wild because we have rescued their own
horses from slaughter. They're so neglectful. And you know, last
year there was a horse named Bernard that was in
very bad shape lame years of neglect. He ended up
at a slaughter auction. We've rescued other horses from slaughter auctions.
They're literally neglecting their horses and then sending them to slaughter,
(12:00):
and advocates like us are the only ones rescuing them.
So we already know what a bad situation it is
for these horses, and Rider's Law would solve that problem. Unfortunately,
there is a powerful union, transport workers union. The president
is John Samuelson, and he seems to be only representing
the interests of the wealthy owners in the business. These
(12:20):
owners want to keep abusing these horses. They want to
keep a situation going where the drivers don't have a salary.
The drivers who rent the horses and carriages from them
are also being exploited. They get no salary, they get
no worker protections, no benefits. And no one's ever heard
of a union head acting on behalf of exploitative owners.
(12:44):
And that's what's happening. Some kind of deal seems to
have been made between the president of that union and
a handful of these wealthy owners.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
So what does that mean for the horses? Does that
mean that this bill? And I know that your organization
has truly put the money where your mouth is.
Speaker 6 (13:01):
Listen, if we can't get a hearing this year, we're
doing everything we can to make that happen. But then
we're going to pick up the fight again in January.
Speaker 5 (13:09):
You know.
Speaker 6 (13:09):
The good thing is right now the current mayor is
fully in support of banning horse carriages. He has said
he is not going to veto this bill. He's urging
the council to move it forward. The only thing holding
it back is this union that's like heavily lobbying putting
out a lot of misinformation, just attacking us personally, attacking
(13:30):
It's sort of like a bullying campaign. They've spent a
million dollars on ads just in the past couple of months,
attacking the council members who support the bill, attacking the conservancy,
attacking the mayor, attacking our organization. It's an intimidation bullying tactic,
and New Yorkers see through it. We need the City
(13:50):
Council to push through and do the right thing. We
know that the majority of them are on our side,
but if you look at there's a lot of legislation
that can be stalled due to special interest groups that
have power. Kind of intimidating and bullying. You know that
happens all the time. There's nothing new, but in this case,
we have lives on the line. There is a huge
(14:13):
network of sanctuary and rescue farms waiting to take these
horses in, which.
Speaker 7 (14:17):
Is incredible because you haven't been part of the rescue
world for years. That's our biggest problem is finding a
home for the underdogs, the under horses, you know, the
ones that have issues medical or their senior or whatever.
It's very hard to find placement and you're saying you
have sanctuaries waiting.
Speaker 6 (14:34):
There are so many and not even and also just individuals.
We've had celebrities come forward that have horse farms and equestrians.
We have had Jennifer Coolidge has been in support. I
know Christy Brinkley, Whitney Cummings who has a horse farm.
Bella Hadid is an equestrian and has a horse farm.
She has offered to take in horses. Kendall Jenner has
(14:56):
come forward, she's also an equestrian with the horse. We've
had so many offers for these horses from individuals, from
rescue farms, from sanctuaries. The problem is getting them freed
from this abusive situation. We can only do that by
passing riders law, and we have this incredible momentum, so
we are doing everything we can to push through the
(15:17):
political corruption and the nonsense and the lies from this
union that's only representing the financial interests of the owners.
It's a terrible thing they're doing. We hope that they will,
you know, come to their senses and there's an offer
on the table for much better jobs. As I said,
for the current drivers who even very recently in media
(15:38):
reports said they don't make a lot of money. It's
not a lucrative job. Most of the money goes to
caring for the horse. So there's an opportunity here to
phase this out, either you know, replace it with electric carriages,
which are popular all over the world, or they've been
offered full time union city jobs.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Yeah, it's not like you're saying to these drivers goodbye,
your job is over, your career is over. You're offering
them an opportunity for a second chance, so the horse
can have a second chance at life.
Speaker 6 (16:08):
It would truly be a win win for everyone, and
it would also for everyone in Midtown people who live
in work there. Taurusts. We would create a safer city
because it's not only the case that the horses go
run wild in the park countless times, dozens of times
in the past few years. I mean, if you can
imagine for your listeners who may not be fully aware,
(16:29):
if you know how congested and dense the traffic is
in Midtown Manhattan. These horses are going through the worst
of it, usually at rush hour, wedged in between trucks, ambulances,
cars just like weaving in and out. This should not
be happening in a modern day City. And because horses
are nervous prey animals, they run when they're frightened, and
(16:52):
that has happened dozens of times in the past few years.
And especially like a horse like lady, if you're taken
from a rural environment, from ash farm where you lived
like that your whole life, and then you're thrown into
midtown Manhattan, you have no turn, no pasture. That's just
unbelievably inhumane and dangerous for everyone involved.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
It's mind boggling that this still exists in this day
and age when there's so many of us animal advocates
out there that care so deeply. So what can people
do now, Adita? What should we be focused on to
put an end to this?
Speaker 6 (17:25):
You know, people who live in New York City, wherever
you live in any of the five boroughs, if you're listening,
you have a lot of power because we need you
to contact whether that's a phone call and email, show
up at the office. You all have a city council member,
and if you were to reach out today tomorrow as
soon as possible with a phone call or a letter
(17:46):
or an email and let them know how. My name
is xyz I am a constituent of yours, I really
want you to co sponsor and pass Rider's Law. You know,
give the reasons why that makes a big difference. I
know it can seem like, oh, I'm just one person,
but they need to hear from their own constituents that
this is what they want. And even if you don't
(18:06):
live in New York City, we're asking everyone, whether you're
a New Yorker or wherever you live in the world,
to contact Speaker Adrian Adams. She is single handedly blocking
this bill from even getting a hearing, So we're asking
people to flood her with calls and emails because it's undemocratic.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
How do they reach her? Is there an email that
you can give out or a phone number?
Speaker 6 (18:30):
Yes, I can give you that right now because we
give this number out. But also if people want there's this,
We have a take action page on our website which
is nyc lass dot org slash stop horse Abuse, so
it's ninclass dot org slash stop horse abuse, and that
page really has all the information for who to contact
(18:53):
contact information information for Adrianadams. If people are listening now
and want to call, the number for her office is
seven one eight two O six two O six eight.
You can call hopefully get a person to answer or
leave a message seven one eight two O six two
O six eight, and her email is Speaker Adams at
(19:15):
Council dot NYC dot gov. So those are quick actions
everyone can take. But you know, it's very helpful when
New Yorkers who live in New York City make the
direct contact with their own council member, because we need
to counter what they're getting from the union that is
aggressively telling these council members, no, don't support this bill,
(19:37):
don't sign on, or trying to get the ones that
have signed on to take their name off. So we
need people power, not a special interest that is representing
financial interests of the owners. We need the people of
New York City and everyone around the world who cares
to contact these officials because that's the only chance we
need to have a hearing. If we had a hearing
(19:58):
for this bill, we would pass it. It's why they're
so desperately blocking it because they know we have everything
on our side. We have the truth, we have the public,
we have the Central Park Conservancy, we have every animal
welfare organization and horse rescue group. So they want to
bury this and prevent it from going forward. We can't
let that happen.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
Well, thanks to you, that looks like it's not going
to happen. You and your wonderful organization, NY Class are
really doing something to make a difference. Hopefully the next
time we speak, you will be giving me great news
because I cannot wait to see only electric carriages on
our streets and never see a horse on the streets
(20:41):
again in that situation.
Speaker 6 (20:44):
Yeah, couldn't agree more.
Speaker 5 (20:45):
We will.
Speaker 6 (20:45):
There will be a huge celebration when we finally this
will be a victory. Also, just to show around the
world that New York is a compassionate city. We don't
tolerate abusing horses on our streets. So many other cities
around the world have already done this. Actually, Malaga, Spain
fully banned all their horse carriages. Brussels, Belgium replaced all
(21:07):
their horses with electric carriages. Other cities like Mumbai, India
replaced all their horse carriages with electric carriages a few
years ago. The list is so long. Chicago banned horse carriages, Montreal, London, Paris, Toronto.
We're like an outlier here and we're supposed to be
a leader exactly, and here we are. It's not eighteen
(21:29):
twenty five anymore, exactly.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Well, hopefully we will be next.
Speaker 6 (21:34):
Thank you so much, Thank you Adida.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
And when we come back, we will be checking in
with our cat correspondent, Deborah Cribs, who has some wonderful
advice that could make your feline very happy this holiday season.
Speaker 8 (21:50):
This is your official gift wrapping Agnox Epe decorating station,
pet Life Radio.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
Let's Talk Pats.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Let's talk past you, Let's done Pets for Radio, Headline.
Speaker 4 (22:04):
Radio Atlight Radio dot com.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
Wesdays cat chat with Deborah Cribs, founder of the Give
Them ten movement.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
Welcome back to Rapaport to the Rescue. I'm Joel Rapaport,
so excited we have cat chat with my cat correspondent,
Deborah Cribs.
Speaker 6 (22:30):
Deborah, great to.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
See you and what have you got to tell me?
I'm the feline front today.
Speaker 8 (22:36):
I am so happy to see and hear you today. Jill,
you know what the holidays are fast approaching and what
do we think about during the holidays giving things to
people like gifts?
Speaker 1 (22:50):
Right right?
Speaker 8 (22:51):
Well, I got an idea. Have you worried about what
to get your pets for Christmas? Give a cat to
your cat. That's my message for today. Two for one.
Two is easier and better than one in a household.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
That's really interesting. So I know they love the squeaky
toys and the toys they can crawl in, and the
cat nip toys. But you're saying, as an expert in
this area, the best gift you can give your cat
is another cat.
Speaker 8 (23:21):
Absolutely, So you obviously help the shelters by having more
cats adopted, But I will tell you that a cat
who has a friend in the house is a happy cat.
And when you have two, they play with each other,
they keep each other occupied, and they're really not that
much more work. Some people say, well, gosh, if you
(23:43):
have two, is it more work? Not really, no, it's not.
But it's really fun to watch them play with each other.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
And you know the education everybody says, the first thing
you shouldn't do is ever give a pet as a gift,
because you might think you're doing the right thing and
then they could end up in a household where they're
not prepared or ready to really take on that animal.
So you really have to make sure before we go
out and decide we want to give a shelter pet
(24:10):
you've got to really talk to the family or the person.
But you're saying, as a cat owner a pet parent,
that you should really consider this addition because it'll make
their lives so much better. And I love that thought, Devor,
because it is you're saving two lives, not only the
one you bring in, but you're making room for another
(24:30):
one in the shelters, and with your initiative give them ten.
You have seen such magic in the area where you
started this, so you know it works.
Speaker 8 (24:40):
It absolutely does. So we say, now that the holidays
are approaching, get a cat for your cat. You can
really do it anytime of year. I agree one hundred percent, Jill.
You don't go giving cats or dogs as gifts to
people if you don't know that they are ready to
receive that gift. But as a cat person, I know
(25:01):
whether I have a solo cat or a cat that
might be a little bored and be super happy to
have a new friend at home. So absolutely get a
cat for your cat. It helps everyone.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
And another wonderful thing to do in holiday season is donate.
Please write a check. If everybody just gave a dollar,
we've discussed this, our shelter system would probably be emptied out.
So I also encourage people if you're not ready to
open your heart and home to an animal, a cat,
a kit, and a dog, a puppy, whatever it is
that you love, but you're not ready, please donate or
(25:36):
donate your time to these organizations. Everybody could appreciate someone
going into having someone sit with an animal or fostering
one of these pets right absolutely.
Speaker 8 (25:47):
I always say, contact your local shelter, they know what
they need. Volunteer, be a dog walker, go into the
shelter and pet cats and help socialize them. Write a
check if that's what you can do. But if all
of us do something, then these animals that we love, cats, dogs,
horses will be better. Everybody will be better humans and
(26:11):
the pets beautiful.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
Note to end On and Deborah, I want to wish
you the most lovely holiday season. With Thanksgiving just around
the corner now, and we're going to be doing so
many more segments with you, including cat adoption stories, breaking
news stories. This is going to be wonderful. Thank you
so much for being part of Rapaport to the Rescue.
Speaker 8 (26:32):
Thank you and happy holidays to you.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
Wishing you all a lovely holiday season filled with love, joy,
and hopefully adoption.
Speaker 4 (26:41):
Let's Talk Pets every week on demand only on petlife
radio dot com
This is Pet Life Radio. Let's talk Pets.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Wrap Report to the Rescue with award winning animal advocate,
best selling author, journalist, and pet products creator Jill Rappaport.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Welcome to Rappaport to the Rescue. I'm Jill Rappaport.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Today we're going to talk about a subject that truly
gives me great pain and heartache, the carriage horses of
New York City. I have been a resident in the
Big Apple since the early eighties, and while the carriage
horses have been a part of the landscape forever, it
is something that has never sat right with me. I
cannot bear to look at those horses with all that
(00:45):
gear wrapped around their heads and bodies, pulling multiple people
in that huge carriage in the worst of conditions sometimes
and horrible temperatures, not to mention all the noise and
chaos as they're forced to go up down those hard
cement's streets. I have never felt that this was something
that should be allowed, and I think is inhumane to
(01:10):
all of the unfortunate horses that so sadly have been
selected for this horrific job, which to date has tragically
taken the lives of so many of our beloved horses,
we are going to talk with Adida Bernkrant. Now, this
is a lady that is truly doing something about this problem.
(01:31):
As the executive director of ny CLASS, which stands for
New Yorkers for Clean, Livable and Safe Streets, this is
such an important and life saving discussion for our beautiful
horses that definitely deserve better. So if you love horses
and care about their well being, this is a discussion
(01:52):
you do not want to bess. But on a breaking
news note, and after we did this interview with Adida,
Rider's Law, named after the carriage horse rider who collapsed
and died in twenty twenty two, failed to pass just yesterday,
But that does not mean that the push to end
this inhumane treatment ends. However, the next council will likely
(02:15):
need to introduce a new bill and start this grueling
and heartbreaking process all over again. So when we come back,
you will hear all about what these horses are going
through and why we still can help because we never
can stop being the voice for the voiceless.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Stay tuned.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
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Let's talk pets on Petlife Radio dot com.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Welcome back to Rappaport to the Rescue.
Speaker 5 (03:25):
I'm Joe Rappaport, and I am really happy to finally
talk to someone that's doing something about a situation that
has been just so heartbreaking for me to witness as
a New Yorker for decades. Adita Bernkrant, I am so
happy you are here, Ny class, and this is such
a horrific situation, which, thank goodness, it looks like there
(03:48):
may be a light at the end of this frightening tunnel.
Speaker 6 (03:52):
Yes, thank you, Jill. I. I am so delighted that
you have me on. I know how passionate you are
about this, and we just want to all so announce
some news that there was a poll, a Zogby poll
that shows that seventy eight percent of a wide cross
section of New Yorker's support banning horse carriages that want
riders a law past Exactly.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
I just heard about this poll and when you consider
seventy eight percent, and they're opting for the electric carriages,
that's what they want. They're not saying get rid of carriages,
they just don't want horses pulling them.
Speaker 6 (04:25):
Yeah, I think you know, people want any alternative that's
a humane alternative. We already have petticab tours of the
park that are wildly popular, more popular, and actually there
was an NPR piece that came out that there was
a survey done by the reporter of tourists in the
park and the majority of them don't want to take
(04:46):
a horse carriage drive. This is what we're hearing over
and over. There has been so many of these viral
videos of horses dropping dead, running wild, injuring people, crashing.
These videos go around the world and millions of people
see them. They don't want to come to New York
City and risk their lives in a horse that could
take off at any time and crash, or give money
(05:09):
to a business that's neglecting and abusing horses. You know,
we see in report so many of them that are
like basically crippled horses with disintegrating hoofs, leg lameness, untreated injuries, arthritis,
many of them elderly horses that should already have been
retired years ago, that are just forced to pound the
(05:30):
pavement put into midtown traffic they're stabling is horrendous. Anyone
who knows about horses, Jill, have you ever seen in
modern day stables that are multi levels where horses are
forced up steep ramps to live on upper levels of buildings.
It doesn't exist in the modern era exactly.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
And I'm a pet parent who's several horses in my
own farm, and they live I think, since some cases
better than me. I take care of their teeth more
than I take care of mine. So I revere them
for the majestic, beautiful animals they are, and I treat
them the way they should be treated. So to witness
this carriage horse situation, I can't even look at it
(06:12):
because it breaks my heart so much.
Speaker 6 (06:14):
That's what seventy eight percent of New Yorkers feel, you know,
and especially people who work or live near the park
or in Hell's Kitchen where just in August, a fifteen
year old mare named Lady, collapsed and dropped dead right
in broad daylight, right on eleventh Avenue and forty fifth Street.
This beautiful horse had just been a few weeks ago,
(06:36):
taken from a rural environment thrown into the concrete jungle
of New York City, collapsed shortly after leaving the stable.
I mean, these horses are being worked to death. And
you know that horses are pasture animals, They're herd animals.
They're meant to be grazing when you look at their
living and working conditions. If they're pulling carriages on the
(06:58):
asphalt in Central Park, never touching grass, they go back
to the far west side, through the worst traffic to
these multi level buildings stables that do not and should
not exist in the modern world because they're wildly unsafe
and and humane. There's no pasture for these animals. There's
no freedom of movement. Their stalls are only required to
(07:20):
be sixty square feet, that is half the recommended size.
I mean, you know that horses need at least a
twelve by twelve and if it's a large draft horse,
they should have fourteen by fourteen.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Sixteen by sixteen. They should have what brood mares have.
Speaker 6 (07:34):
So imagine that only by law sixty square feet. That
is heartbreaking for and that's their whole life. They're in
this tiny solitary confinement prison cell. They're never touching grass.
They don't even have an exercise ring dirt, they have nothing.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
And the survey that was favored by seventy eight percent
of New Yorkers, which is so wonderful. It's called Rider's Law. Now,
Rider was a horse that also collapsed and died. It
was named after him.
Speaker 6 (08:03):
Yes, Rider was a really heartbreaking situation, and I think
it highlights the emergency situation here. So Ryder was actually
twenty six years old, which is a senior horse. His
owner falsified and forged his health records to say he
was thirteen. And Rider was found to be riddled with
cancer and many other ailments. So they just mercilessly worked
(08:28):
this elderly sick horse with cancer until his body gave
out on Hell's Kitchen on Ninth Avenue and it became
a worldwide outrage was generated. This heartbreaking video of this
horse could not get up for an hour. NYPD mounted
police took over. They were hosing Rider, they were dumping
ice on him. It took an hour to get him up,
(08:50):
and by the time he was given vet care it
was too late. He had cancer, he had all these
untreatment ailments, and he later died. And that's another case
of horse being worked to death. How on earth does
a twenty six year old horse riddled with cancer even
get approved to be worked, right, that's that work for
the carriage owners. Just rubber stamp these horses. They all
(09:14):
get a perfect bill of health. Lady who dropped dead
in August got a perfect bill of health. Rider gets
a perfect bill of health. There was a horse named
Ayesha a few years ago who also collapsed and later died.
She had an untreatment disease called polysaccharide storage myopathy, which
is very rarely fatal. It's something that's treated with diet.
(09:35):
All these horses just get no vet care.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
But thanks to you, as executive director of NY Class,
things are moving in the right direction. Tell us about
what we can hopefully look forward to. Well, we have
incredible momentum, not only a majority of New Yorkers, but
the Central Park Conservancy, which manages Central Park. In August
came out very strongly urging the City Council to pass
(09:59):
riders Life. They have never taken a position on this.
They don't usually take any political positions, but they felt
so strongly after there were four violent runaway horse disasters
in the park that injured park goers. People were nearly trampled.
They pointed out that the infrastructure of the park, the
roads are damaged from these carriages. The manure poses a problem.
(10:21):
The drivers don't follow the laws. They said, in order
to protect the well being and safety of the park goers.
Speaker 6 (10:29):
You know what is it, forty three million people visit
the park every year. You need to remove these carriages.
So that's more momentum on our side. We know that
most tourists don't want to take these rides. We have
twenty council members so far that have co sponsored Rider's Law,
but we need a hearing for riders Law. It's been
blocked unfortunately the Speaker of the Council, Speaker Adrian Adams,
(10:52):
has blocked this legislation. It's outrageous because it's untemocratic when
you have a bill like this that would save the
lives of these horses and protect the jobs of the
drivers and it's being blocked. Lives are at risk. So
we've really been urging and pushing Adriene Adams to we
still have time left to get a hearing for this
(11:13):
bill to move it forward. We believe if we had
a hearing and there was a vote, this bill would
pass and we could get it done this year. But
there's a sort of sort of political corruption going on
and that hasn't happened.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Well, you're up against the union too. Talk about this
union director, the union head, who basically is saying what
you're doing is criminal ray.
Speaker 6 (11:36):
Right, it's pretty wild because we have rescued their own
horses from slaughter. They're so neglectful. And you know, last
year there was a horse named Bernard that was in
very bad shape lame years of neglect. He ended up
at a slaughter auction. We've rescued other horses from slaughter auctions.
They're literally neglecting their horses and then sending them to slaughter,
(12:00):
and advocates like us are the only ones rescuing them.
So we already know what a bad situation it is
for these horses, and Rider's Law would solve that problem. Unfortunately,
there is a powerful union, transport workers union. The president
is John Samuelson, and he seems to be only representing
the interests of the wealthy owners in the business. These
(12:20):
owners want to keep abusing these horses. They want to
keep a situation going where the drivers don't have a salary.
The drivers who rent the horses and carriages from them
are also being exploited. They get no salary, they get
no worker protections, no benefits. And no one's ever heard
of a union head acting on behalf of exploitative owners.
(12:44):
And that's what's happening. Some kind of deal seems to
have been made between the president of that union and
a handful of these wealthy owners.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
So what does that mean for the horses? Does that
mean that this bill? And I know that your organization
has truly put the money where your mouth is.
Speaker 6 (13:01):
Listen, if we can't get a hearing this year, we're
doing everything we can to make that happen. But then
we're going to pick up the fight again in January.
Speaker 5 (13:09):
You know.
Speaker 6 (13:09):
The good thing is right now the current mayor is
fully in support of banning horse carriages. He has said
he is not going to veto this bill. He's urging
the council to move it forward. The only thing holding
it back is this union that's like heavily lobbying putting
out a lot of misinformation, just attacking us personally, attacking
(13:30):
It's sort of like a bullying campaign. They've spent a
million dollars on ads just in the past couple of months,
attacking the council members who support the bill, attacking the conservancy,
attacking the mayor, attacking our organization. It's an intimidation bullying tactic,
and New Yorkers see through it. We need the City
(13:50):
Council to push through and do the right thing. We
know that the majority of them are on our side,
but if you look at there's a lot of legislation
that can be stalled due to special interest groups that
have power. Kind of intimidating and bullying. You know that
happens all the time. There's nothing new, but in this case,
we have lives on the line. There is a huge
(14:13):
network of sanctuary and rescue farms waiting to take these
horses in, which.
Speaker 7 (14:17):
Is incredible because you haven't been part of the rescue
world for years. That's our biggest problem is finding a
home for the underdogs, the under horses, you know, the
ones that have issues medical or their senior or whatever.
It's very hard to find placement and you're saying you
have sanctuaries waiting.
Speaker 6 (14:34):
There are so many and not even and also just individuals.
We've had celebrities come forward that have horse farms and equestrians.
We have had Jennifer Coolidge has been in support. I
know Christy Brinkley, Whitney Cummings who has a horse farm.
Bella Hadid is an equestrian and has a horse farm.
She has offered to take in horses. Kendall Jenner has
(14:56):
come forward, she's also an equestrian with the horse. We've
had so many offers for these horses from individuals, from
rescue farms, from sanctuaries. The problem is getting them freed
from this abusive situation. We can only do that by
passing riders law, and we have this incredible momentum, so
we are doing everything we can to push through the
(15:17):
political corruption and the nonsense and the lies from this
union that's only representing the financial interests of the owners.
It's a terrible thing they're doing. We hope that they will,
you know, come to their senses and there's an offer
on the table for much better jobs. As I said,
for the current drivers who even very recently in media
(15:38):
reports said they don't make a lot of money. It's
not a lucrative job. Most of the money goes to
caring for the horse. So there's an opportunity here to
phase this out, either you know, replace it with electric carriages,
which are popular all over the world, or they've been
offered full time union city jobs.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Yeah, it's not like you're saying to these drivers goodbye,
your job is over, your career is over. You're offering
them an opportunity for a second chance, so the horse
can have a second chance at life.
Speaker 6 (16:08):
It would truly be a win win for everyone, and
it would also for everyone in Midtown people who live
in work there. Taurusts. We would create a safer city
because it's not only the case that the horses go
run wild in the park countless times, dozens of times
in the past few years. I mean, if you can
imagine for your listeners who may not be fully aware,
(16:29):
if you know how congested and dense the traffic is
in Midtown Manhattan. These horses are going through the worst
of it, usually at rush hour, wedged in between trucks, ambulances,
cars just like weaving in and out. This should not
be happening in a modern day City. And because horses
are nervous prey animals, they run when they're frightened, and
(16:52):
that has happened dozens of times in the past few years.
And especially like a horse like lady, if you're taken
from a rural environment, from ash farm where you lived
like that your whole life, and then you're thrown into
midtown Manhattan, you have no turn, no pasture. That's just
unbelievably inhumane and dangerous for everyone involved.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
It's mind boggling that this still exists in this day
and age when there's so many of us animal advocates
out there that care so deeply. So what can people
do now, Adita? What should we be focused on to
put an end to this?
Speaker 6 (17:25):
You know, people who live in New York City, wherever
you live in any of the five boroughs, if you're listening,
you have a lot of power because we need you
to contact whether that's a phone call and email, show
up at the office. You all have a city council member,
and if you were to reach out today tomorrow as
soon as possible with a phone call or a letter
(17:46):
or an email and let them know how. My name
is xyz I am a constituent of yours, I really
want you to co sponsor and pass Rider's Law. You know,
give the reasons why that makes a big difference. I
know it can seem like, oh, I'm just one person,
but they need to hear from their own constituents that
this is what they want. And even if you don't
(18:06):
live in New York City, we're asking everyone, whether you're
a New Yorker or wherever you live in the world,
to contact Speaker Adrian Adams. She is single handedly blocking
this bill from even getting a hearing, So we're asking
people to flood her with calls and emails because it's undemocratic.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
How do they reach her? Is there an email that
you can give out or a phone number?
Speaker 6 (18:30):
Yes, I can give you that right now because we
give this number out. But also if people want there's this,
We have a take action page on our website which
is nyc lass dot org slash stop horse Abuse, so
it's ninclass dot org slash stop horse abuse, and that
page really has all the information for who to contact
(18:53):
contact information information for Adrianadams. If people are listening now
and want to call, the number for her office is
seven one eight two O six two O six eight.
You can call hopefully get a person to answer or
leave a message seven one eight two O six two
O six eight, and her email is Speaker Adams at
(19:15):
Council dot NYC dot gov. So those are quick actions
everyone can take. But you know, it's very helpful when
New Yorkers who live in New York City make the
direct contact with their own council member, because we need
to counter what they're getting from the union that is
aggressively telling these council members, no, don't support this bill,
(19:37):
don't sign on, or trying to get the ones that
have signed on to take their name off. So we
need people power, not a special interest that is representing
financial interests of the owners. We need the people of
New York City and everyone around the world who cares
to contact these officials because that's the only chance we
need to have a hearing. If we had a hearing
(19:58):
for this bill, we would pass it. It's why they're
so desperately blocking it because they know we have everything
on our side. We have the truth, we have the public,
we have the Central Park Conservancy, we have every animal
welfare organization and horse rescue group. So they want to
bury this and prevent it from going forward. We can't
let that happen.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
Well, thanks to you, that looks like it's not going
to happen. You and your wonderful organization, NY Class are
really doing something to make a difference. Hopefully the next
time we speak, you will be giving me great news
because I cannot wait to see only electric carriages on
our streets and never see a horse on the streets
(20:41):
again in that situation.
Speaker 6 (20:44):
Yeah, couldn't agree more.
Speaker 5 (20:45):
We will.
Speaker 6 (20:45):
There will be a huge celebration when we finally this
will be a victory. Also, just to show around the
world that New York is a compassionate city. We don't
tolerate abusing horses on our streets. So many other cities
around the world have already done this. Actually, Malaga, Spain
fully banned all their horse carriages. Brussels, Belgium replaced all
(21:07):
their horses with electric carriages. Other cities like Mumbai, India
replaced all their horse carriages with electric carriages a few
years ago. The list is so long. Chicago banned horse carriages, Montreal, London, Paris, Toronto.
We're like an outlier here and we're supposed to be
a leader exactly, and here we are. It's not eighteen
(21:29):
twenty five anymore, exactly.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Well, hopefully we will be next.
Speaker 6 (21:34):
Thank you so much, Thank you Adida.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
And when we come back, we will be checking in
with our cat correspondent, Deborah Cribs, who has some wonderful
advice that could make your feline very happy this holiday season.
Speaker 8 (21:50):
This is your official gift wrapping Agnox Epe decorating station,
pet Life Radio.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
Let's Talk Pats.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Let's talk past you, Let's done Pets for Radio, Headline.
Speaker 4 (22:04):
Radio Atlight Radio dot com.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
Wesdays cat chat with Deborah Cribs, founder of the Give
Them ten movement.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
Welcome back to Rapaport to the Rescue. I'm Joel Rapaport,
so excited we have cat chat with my cat correspondent,
Deborah Cribs.
Speaker 6 (22:30):
Deborah, great to.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
See you and what have you got to tell me?
I'm the feline front today.
Speaker 8 (22:36):
I am so happy to see and hear you today. Jill,
you know what the holidays are fast approaching and what
do we think about during the holidays giving things to
people like gifts?
Speaker 1 (22:50):
Right right?
Speaker 8 (22:51):
Well, I got an idea. Have you worried about what
to get your pets for Christmas? Give a cat to
your cat. That's my message for today. Two for one.
Two is easier and better than one in a household.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
That's really interesting. So I know they love the squeaky
toys and the toys they can crawl in, and the
cat nip toys. But you're saying, as an expert in
this area, the best gift you can give your cat
is another cat.
Speaker 8 (23:21):
Absolutely, So you obviously help the shelters by having more
cats adopted, But I will tell you that a cat
who has a friend in the house is a happy cat.
And when you have two, they play with each other,
they keep each other occupied, and they're really not that
much more work. Some people say, well, gosh, if you
(23:43):
have two, is it more work? Not really, no, it's not.
But it's really fun to watch them play with each other.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
And you know the education everybody says, the first thing
you shouldn't do is ever give a pet as a gift,
because you might think you're doing the right thing and
then they could end up in a household where they're
not prepared or ready to really take on that animal.
So you really have to make sure before we go
out and decide we want to give a shelter pet
(24:10):
you've got to really talk to the family or the person.
But you're saying, as a cat owner a pet parent,
that you should really consider this addition because it'll make
their lives so much better. And I love that thought, Devor,
because it is you're saving two lives, not only the
one you bring in, but you're making room for another
(24:30):
one in the shelters, and with your initiative give them ten.
You have seen such magic in the area where you
started this, so you know it works.
Speaker 8 (24:40):
It absolutely does. So we say, now that the holidays
are approaching, get a cat for your cat. You can
really do it anytime of year. I agree one hundred percent, Jill.
You don't go giving cats or dogs as gifts to
people if you don't know that they are ready to
receive that gift. But as a cat person, I know
(25:01):
whether I have a solo cat or a cat that
might be a little bored and be super happy to
have a new friend at home. So absolutely get a
cat for your cat. It helps everyone.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
And another wonderful thing to do in holiday season is donate.
Please write a check. If everybody just gave a dollar,
we've discussed this, our shelter system would probably be emptied out.
So I also encourage people if you're not ready to
open your heart and home to an animal, a cat,
a kit, and a dog, a puppy, whatever it is
that you love, but you're not ready, please donate or
(25:36):
donate your time to these organizations. Everybody could appreciate someone
going into having someone sit with an animal or fostering
one of these pets right absolutely.
Speaker 8 (25:47):
I always say, contact your local shelter, they know what
they need. Volunteer, be a dog walker, go into the
shelter and pet cats and help socialize them. Write a
check if that's what you can do. But if all
of us do something, then these animals that we love, cats, dogs,
horses will be better. Everybody will be better humans and
(26:11):
the pets beautiful.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
Note to end On and Deborah, I want to wish
you the most lovely holiday season. With Thanksgiving just around
the corner now, and we're going to be doing so
many more segments with you, including cat adoption stories, breaking
news stories. This is going to be wonderful. Thank you
so much for being part of Rapaport to the Rescue.
Speaker 8 (26:32):
Thank you and happy holidays to you.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
Wishing you all a lovely holiday season filled with love, joy,
and hopefully adoption.
Speaker 4 (26:41):
Let's Talk Pets every week on demand only on petlife
radio dot com
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