Although there are currently no slaughter facilities in the United States to process horses for human food, it is not illegal to truck American horses to Canada and Mexico to be slaughtered for meat.">
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On the morning of June 24th of last year, I turned on my computer to see an e-mail that immediately caught my attention.
The subject line was “ex-carriage horse in kill broker lot PA.”
The e-mail asked if I knew anyone who could help to “save this gentle gelding from slaughter” since they had only two days until Saturday at 6 p.m. to find a secure home.
If one was not found in that time, the horse would return to the slaughter pen.
His description read “Bay gelding ex carriage horse has license plate on front left hoof quiet, gentle broke to ride/drive.” He had already been purchased by a kill buyer but a Good Samaritan was trying to find a home for him.
Knowing the urgency, I quickly went into high gear and reached out to several people to see who might rescue this horse. Fortunately, Susan Wagner of Equine Advocates accepted the challenge. With all the paper work involved, it was not until Monday that the horse, who later became known as Bobby II Freedom, arrived at their sanctuary in Chatham, NY.
HORSE SLAUGHTER IN THE US: For years, polls have shown that the majority of Americans are opposed to horse slaughter.
The horse has a special place in our history. We don’t eat him and we don’t like to see him slaughtered. And we do not tolerate seeing him abused.
Although there are currently no slaughter facilities in the United States to process horses for human food, it is not illegal to truck American horses to Canada and Mexico to be slaughtered for meat that is shipped to countries like France, Italy, Belgium and Japan where it is considered a delicacy.
In 2010, 53,104 horses from the United States were sent to Mexico and 59,693 were sent to Canada to be slaughtered. So far this year, almost 70,000 horses have been exported for slaughter. This information was reported by the Equine Welfare Alliance.
Kill auctions like New Holland in Pennsylvania and Unadilla in upstate New York, to name a few, are the first stop on the way to the slaughter facilities. These two are convenient to NYC carriage owners. Auctions are hazardous places and the horses are in danger of being injured, killed, becoming ill – and being purchased for slaughter as Bobby was.
The NYC carriage industry has often been accused of sending their horses to auction, but we did not have proof until now. This was a careless transaction by the owner where the horse was dumped at a public auction – New Holland – with a visible 4-digit ID number engraved on his left front hoof. But it was good fortune for Bobby and was the means I used to track him back to West Side Livery stable, one of four carriage horse stables in NYC.
These kinds of transactions are usually not so open. Over the years we have heard rumors that this ID number is sanded off when the horse is taken to auction so there is no way to identify a NYC horse.
WHERE DO ALL THE HORSES GO? Since 2005, I have been analyzing Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DoH) horse registry lists, which I obtain through the Freedom of Information Law. At any given time, there are approximately 200-220 registered NYC carriage horses in the system. My analysis has revealed that at least 1/3 of the carriage horses, between 60 and 70, who are in the system one year, are not the following year. And because this is a snap shot comparing two dates, which are usually about one year apart, it is probably on the low side since some horses come into and leave the system in that period of time.
The carriage horse owners claim that they find homes for all their horses. But the law is written in such a way to support a closed door secretive industry. If they do find homes, then the industry should not mind a system where they need to provide records and do the best thing for the horses.
The existing law requires that if a horse is sold within New York City, the seller must provide the name and address of the buyer to the DoH within ten days. Horses sold within NYC are generally sold within the industry to another driver. NYC is not a horse buying town.
However, if the horse is sold outside NYC, the only requirement is to let the DoH know that the horse is no longer in the system. There are no protections and no controls for the horses.
It is no mystery why the existing law does not regulate horses being sold outside of NYC. This way, the owner can make his living in a system that has as few controls as possible on his business. He can sell the horse to another carriage horse business, to work on an Amish farm or bring the horse directly to the slaughter auctions. Or he might even retire the favorites to a sanctuary or his own farm if he has one.
But the horse has no protection and his fate is entirely at the discretion of his owner.
LILLY’S STORY: The late Lilly O’Reilly was a NYC carriage horse sold to a carriage business in Boston in 2006 via New Holland. She was fortunately rescued along the way and her story can be seen on the web site of the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages. She was 200 pounds underweight. She was also very depressed and distant and did not come out of her shell until she was adopted by an equine veterinarian and went to live with another horse and a rescued donkey who quickly became her pals. She only lived a short time after that, but at least she was loved and wanted. Both she and the other horse had gotten sick but she did not recover. Her caretaker said it was due to her previous hard life on the streets.
PUT UP OR SHUT UP: The new bill, Intro 670, introduced by Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito, finally has the horses’ welfare at heart. Owners will be required to sell or donate their horse to an individual, animal sanctuary or animal protection organization that must sign an assurance that the horse be kept solely as a companion animal, will not be sold, will not employed in another horse-drawn carriage business and will be cared for humanely for the remainder of the horse’s natural life. Records with the buyer’s contact information must be submitted to the Department of Health.
We hope that the City Council will support this bill and understand that these horses must be treated with kindness and respect.
Bobby Rolling Image Source: Jim Craner
The Horse and Carriage Association of New York City just announced a partnership with Blue Star Equiculture, a non-profit horse retirement farm. According to both the carriage horse association and this retirement farm, any NYC carriage horse in need of a retirement home will be welcomed at Blue Star Equiculture.
Since the HCANYC apparently has made provisions to retire NYC carriage horses at a nice farm in the countryside, why would Elizabeth Forel or anyone else claim that these horse are indanger of going to slaughter? Also, why are they so determined to try to dictate to which farm and where these privately-owned horses are retired? Isn’t this a very un-American position, to try to tell someone else where and with whom they may retire their own horses?
There is nothing “wrong” with carriage and working horses continuing to have light exercise as riding and driving horses after they retire from daily jobs in the city. Horses, like people, need exercise to remain fit and healthy. Carriage and working horses are used to routine, and to having lots of human care and companionship.
To force these horses into a life of idleness, removed from daily close contact with humans would be —dare I say it?— CRUEL. Horses have NOT been bred to be “companion animals” like many breeds of dogs, and of course, cats.
Horses are working animals, and the draft breeds especially have been bred to have a strong work ethic. A draft horse suddenly finding itself “put out to pasture” often becomes depressed and goes off its feed. Or worse, they develop vices such a s cribbing that can cause colic, or they begin “weaving” or pacing back and forth mindlessly along the pasture fences. Some horses become so distraught that they begin biting at themselves or rubbing against trees and fence posts until they cause open sores. Still others undergo a personality change and can even become too agressive toward other horses.
There are countless stories of retired fire horses who still tried to answer the fire alarm when they heard it, even though they had been retired because of age or unsoundness. There are still other stories of retired delivery cart horses, who escaping their pastures through a carelessly unfastened gate, perfectly followed their once daily routes, stopping at corners and at all the houses where deliveries were made — and then returning to the stable all by themselves.
Imagine having spent your whole life surrounded by the bustle of the carriage stable, and the constant attention of your owner, driver and the stablehands. Would you want to find yourself suddenly “put out to pasture” with only other horses- many of then strangers to you- for company? I know my horses would not like that.
And I DO run a horse retirement farm, unlike Ms. Forel and many of the other anti-carriage horse extremists in NYC. I run a small not-for-profit retirement farm for six horses at a time. I have run this farm since 1999. I have been riding or dirving horses since I was five years old. My late husband and I bred and raised successful show horses. I think I know a thing or two about horses and horse keeping.
My vet has confirmed that even “retired” horses, as long as they are healthy and sound, benefit from continued use and exercise. The idea that working horses should be forced to become “pasture puffs” and that this would benefit their health is preposterous.
In addition to receiving ample nutritious feed, grooming and handling, and vet and farrier care, all of the horses here are still ridden or driven to give them needed exercise, and a change of scenery provided by getting out and about town. The horses here help with farm tasks such as harrowing, seed planting, cultivation and fertilizer spreading.
One of the horses, a trained carriage horse, now retired from daily service and work as a camp horse, does serve as our wedding carriage horse. She draws our carriage for weddings and other special events. The fees she helps earn are used to care for her and the other horses here. There is NOTHING WRONG with horses being ridden or driven. There is nothing wrong with horses helping to earn their keep.
Please do not be fooled by these people into thinking that standing around in a pasture all day with nothing else to do is good for horses. It is not. These retired horses are DOMESTIC animals who have been bred to work, and have been trained to allow people to drive or ride them. Anyone who has been around domestic horses knows that most of them genuinely like their human caretakers. They look forward to interaction with us. They enjoy the attention and grooming. And they really love the treats we dispense. They benefit from exercise that being ridden or driven provides.
The solution is to outlaw the carriage rides.
This bill would be so wonderful for the horses and they deserve to be tracked and gone to a good home where they could live out their hard lives in peace. I pray this goes through.
If it does not, what is wrong with mankind? SO cruel, they are just numbers on a hoof.
Poor things. I can’t believe that over 100,000 horses have been shipped to Canada and Mexico. It is as bad as eating dog and cat meat. And if it was a race horse, the chemicals they are ingesting. Hope they all get cancer.