NYC carriage horse slams into vehicles, renews calls for ban
A spooked carriage horse in Central Park galloped the mistaken way into oncoming targeted traffic and crashed into two cars — renewing phone calls for the “cruel” exercise to be banned in the Major Apple.
The frightened horse, Freddy, was inside the green area near Fifth Avenue and East 60th Street at around 7:40 p.m. Tuesday when it bolted with the carriage in tow, according to police and video of the incident.
It sideswiped a Revel electric powered auto and an additional car or truck and then grew to become wedged among them — leaving the horse with a bloody gash and snarling Midtown site visitors, the footage displays.
“This horse was terrified and out of control,” explained Edita Birnkrant, govt director of the animal legal rights team NYCLASS. “Accidents like this are heading to keep happening until eventually we conclusion the 19th century custom of carriages.”
Distressing footage shows the panicked horse rearing its head and striving to get away as annoyed drivers honk — agitating it even far more.
The horse endured a wound several inches extensive on its left flank, in accordance to footage delivered by NYCLASS.
An ambulance was called to the scene but nobody else was hurt, in accordance to law enforcement.
But Birnkrant reported the animal should really have by no means been permitted to hoof it though Central Park — because the driver was allegedly inexperienced and the horse was probable new to the metropolis.
“We are contacting for an investigation and for the horse to be produced into a sanctuary,” she claimed. “We are expressing sufficient is more than enough. New York City is 1 of last big cities that however will allow this cruel and hazardous follow.”
Marty Irby of Animal Wellness Action referred to as horse and carriage custom “a recipe for disaster” which is cruel to horses.
“Horses are are flight animals and they flee absent from any danger. This huge metropolis you have tons of sounds,” he stated. “It”s a recipe for disaster.”
In a assertion, he included, “New York Mayor Eric Adams should instantly instruct the NYPD to quickly examine this case and revoke the driver’s license till an investigation has been done. It’s lengthy previous time to rid our nation’s major metropolis of the antiquated use of horse-drawn carriages.”
A spokeswoman for the carriage business, Christina Hansen, mentioned incidents are rare and the practice is humane.
“Every single incident has been in the news due to the fact it practically hardly ever comes about,” she claimed. “It’s not cruel to the horses… They’re pretty nicely taken treatment of.”
She added, “There’s no explanation to ban them.”
The Transport Employees Union Regional 100, which represents the city’s carriage drivers, said the horse’s accidents ended up not really serious.
“Freddy will be wonderful. He has a shallow lower on his flank and that was taken care of by an equine veterinarian,” the team said in a assertion.
“Nothing is far more vital to carriage motorists than the wellness and basic safety of the beloved Central Park horses. Which is why we have been asking the metropolis for hitching posts so motorists can tether their horses and prevent the possibility of 1 having loose when waiting for a journey.”
Final year, a carriage horse endured a bloody injury when it crashed into the back of a BMW sedan in Midtown. A further horse injured travellers when it was spooked by an umbrella in 2018.