Video footage of a carriage horse that collapsed in Central Park and was later euthanized on Saturday has spurred outrage among animal rights activists and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio.
In a video that was shared with CBS by the animal rights advocacy group New Yorkers for Clean, Livable, and Safe Streets (NYCLASS), 12-year-old mare Aisha can be seen unable support her weight and collapsing multiple times on the asphalt.
Employees with the Historic Horse-Drawn Carriages of Central Park company can be seen dragging Aisha over the asphalt. According to CBS, one man can be seen blowing smoke into the horse’s face. The video was reposted on Twitter by Council Speaker Corey Johnson.
There should be an immediate investigation into what happened to this horse and the cause of death.
This video is painful to watch and the public deserves answers. https://t.co/9NKvqWJgv8
— Corey Johnson (@CoreyinNYC) March 1, 2020
“This brutal video shows carriage drivers purposely blowing smoke into downed carriage horse Aisha’s face and her flipping over in terror. There is 17 minutes more of footage like this. Aisha was brutalized. Now she’s dead. Animal cruelty charges need to be filed,” NYCLASS said on Twitter.
“The horse showed sudden signs of distress around 12:30 p.m. on Saturday after doing a single ride and then waiting for approximately an hour-and-a-half at the 7th Ave carriage stand,” said a spokesperson for the Historic Horse-Drawn Carriages of Central Park, according to CNBC. “The vet and our emergency horse trailer were called immediately, and the horse unhitched and unharnessed.”
Reportedly, Aisha was transported to a stable at 52th Street, where she was later euthanized by a veterinarian. After the news spread some 150 protesters showed up at the stable in an “emergency protest” and called for abolishing the horse carriage industry, the station reported.
“Instead of calling a qualified vet to help this horse, several carriage drivers tied him up with ropes, shoved, pulled him into a trailer and they took him back to the stable,” Edita Birnkrant, executive director of NYCLASS, said in a statement to CNBC.
Christina Hansen, a spokesperson for the NYC carriage companies, however, dismissed the charges of animal cruelty, contending that the animal likely collapsed due to a cardiovascular problem.
“Animal rights extremists are already exploiting this tragedy to further their anti-horse agenda during our time of grief and shock,” Hansen told CBS. “This medical emergency appears to be something that could happen to any horse, any time, anywhere, for any number of reasons, under a wide variety of conditions.”
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio who has been outspoken about banning the horse carriage businesses in Central Park, has also weighed in on Twitter, announcing an investigation.
The video of a horse collapsing and dying in Central Park yesterday is painful and says so much about a persistent problem.
We’ve made real progress in animal welfare but we must go further. The NYPD’s Animal Cruelty Investigation Squad is on the case and WILL get answers.
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) March 1, 2020
“We’ve made real progress in animal welfare but we must go further,” de Blasio said on Sunday. “The NYPD’s Animal Cruelty Investigation Squad is on the case and WILL get answers.”
