To Avoid COVID-19 Contagion, Alec Baldwin Urges DeBlasio to Stop NYC’s Horse Carriage Rides that Cram Tourists into Small Seats

Alec Baldwin recently spoke out over the treatment of carriage horses in New York City. Less than a month after a carriage horse collapsed in Central Park, Alec Baldwin sent a letter to Mayor Bill DeBlasio urging him to stop the cruel industry.

According to Page Six, Baldwin praised DeBlasio’s handling of COVID-19 in New York City, but asked him to take another look at the carriage horse industry. In his letter, Baldwin writes, “As we face an unprecedented crisis of contagion, it is shocking that carriage drivers still cram tourists into small carriages and give them shared, reused blankets, with the driver seated just inches ahead of them. This reckless disregard may well fuel the spread of the coronavirus to both New Yorkers and unwitting visitors from across the country.”

He asked that while DeBlasio was “closing schools restaurants and bars,” that he ” shut down one shady trade that continues to put people at risk: horse-drawn carriage operators.”

Carriage operators are still giving people rides through Central Park in spite of the CDC’s plea for social distancing. A tweet by PETA urged carriage drives to stop both the harmful practice, and the spread of coronavirus by stopping operations. See the tweet, below,

Horse-drawn carriages are inhumane and cruel to horses. Horses endure painful, tight bridles and are forced to carry weight of up to 1,800 pounds. Horses endure tiny stables and a future of joint pain and arthritis if they are forced to serve this cruel industry.

Sign this petition to demand an end to the cruel horse carriage industry!

Read more about horse-drawn carriages in One Green Planet:

• NYC Passes Law So Carriage Horses Won’t Be Forced to Work in Extreme Heat, But the Fight is Not Over
• Protest in Central Park after Another Overworked Carriage Horse Collapsed and was Immediately Euthanized
• The Truth About Horse-Drawn Carriages in New York City
• Where do all the NYC Carriage Horses Go?
• Can Horse Carriages Ever Really Be Romantic?
• A Horse of a Different Color: Carriage Horses Are Neither War Horses Nor Work Horses

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