If you live in New York City, you're likely thinking about how to enjoy the upcoming July 4th weekend while beating the heat and humidity that's forecast. With temperatures expected to reach 89 degrees on Saturday and 95 degrees on Sunday and Monday, access to cool spots will be a requisite part of the holiday weekend planning for the millions that are staying in the city.
With the sweltering temperatures, we are likely to be reminded in news reports to take care of the particularly vulnerable - infants, the elderly, and pets are the three groups usually highlighted, and for good reason. However, we continue to neglect a group of animals that must labor under the most extreme of conditions, the carriage horses that take tourists around Central Park.
Imagine if you had to work outside in the sun, pulling a heavy carriage. That is the plight of the city's carriage horses. Though they are always laboring in less than ideal conditions, summer is particularly hard on horses. If they don't have enough water or are worked too hard, they can develop heat stroke. The natural heat of summer, combined with the constant puff of exhaust fumes from surrounding cars and the foot traffic that surrounds them, makes an ordinarily uncomfortable condition virtually unbearable.
Veterinarians recommend restricting work hours to the early morning or late evening and providing frequent rests in shady, well-ventilated areas. Unfortunately, current law only allows for the suspension of horse carriage operations when the temperature hits 90 degrees, with no consideration for humidity. That means that if the temperature hits a high of 89 degrees, the horses must labor under essentially the same conditions because of the inflexible threshold set in place.
All attempts to improve any other heat-related conditions for the horses, or even to lower the temperature requirement by only one or two degrees, have met with strong resistance from the carriage horse industry. However, we don't have to be in a situation where fighting to move the heat threshold a few degrees represents progress.
Instead of trying to make a difficult situation slightly more bearable, we need to make a larger effort to phase out today's inhumane and antiquated carriage horse system. These suffering horses are under incredible duress on a daily basis - even in less extreme weather - due to the physical burden they carry during the day, and the cramped quarters to which they are typically confined during off-hours. There are too many negative variables - whether it be heat, physical strain, or exhaust fumes inhaled - that alone, would be enough to warrant a label of inhumane treatment. Taken together, they demand fundamental change.
That is why NYCLASS supports phasing out the industry altogether and replacing it with a humane and eminently feasible alternative: vintage, environmentally-friendly horseless carriages. These clean energy carriages would retain the charm needed to attract tourists without putting undue strain on horses.
The good news is you can do something about it and help ensure that these horses never have to endure another summer of hard labor. Go to NYCLASS's website to tell your City Councilmember that you support our plan and want to help NYC's carriage horses beat the heat by retiring them from the city streets.