A carriage horse fell in the middle of a busy New York City street on Wednesday, prompting organizations to speak out against the use of carriage horses in the city.
The New York City Police Department (NYPD) responded to the incident near Ninth Avenue and 45th Street in Manhattan around 5 p.m. yesterday, officers tell PEOPLE in a statement.
“Upon arrival, patrol officers observed a carriage horse lying in the middle of the roadway in distress,” the NYPD adds.
“The NYPD takes the health and well-being of our four legged friends in New York City very seriously, and are glad that our trained equestrian officers were able to assist,” NYPD adds.
NBC News/YouTube
“He started whipping and saying ‘Get up, get up. Like bro, don’t whip your horse, he obviously needs some water, he looked dehydrated,” eyewitness Kevin Gonzalez toldNBC New York.
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“The neurological effects of the EPM caused the horse to stumble and fall as the carriage driver is trying to change lanes and turn here on 45th street on the way home,” said Hansen. “And once he was down, he had difficulty getting up again from the neurological symptoms of EPM.
She added, “They were hosing the horse down as a precaution, but they checked all of his vitals he had good temperature, good color in his gums and everything like that.”
Meanwhile, some organizations say this incident serves as a reason to stop carriage rides in New York City.
NYCLASS, an organization committed to ending carriage horse abuse, called on politicians to take action.
“@NYCCouncil@NYCSpeakerAdams@NYCMayor- the world is watching. This horse may die, like many others. We must pass Intro 573 to end this abuse!@BobHoldenNYC,” the organizationwrote, sharing footage of officers hosing down Ryder.
PETAalsotweeted, “This horse COLLAPSED while pulling a carriage in NYC, likely from heat exhaustion, and has been down for over an hour. Horses don’t belong in big cities where they’re put in constant danger because of cars, humans, weather, and more.”
Voters for Animal Rightswrote, “This is absolutely horrifying. Today a carriage horse collapsed on 45th & 9th. We don’t know what happened. Please take action:http://vfar.org/horsesYour@NYCCouncilMember’s has the power to pass Intro 573 to replace horse carriages with electric carriages.”
It lateraddedthat “Ryder is on the mend” alongside a video of the horse eating out of a woman’s hand.
source: people.com
