De Blasio seeks to ban Horse-Drawn Carriage rides in Central Park

[Alcon]

I'd vote "Neigh!"

you're so the worst

[bedstuy]

I'd like to take this opportunity to echo bgwah.  Scapegoating/mocking vegetarians and vegans is a super-annoying tendency of liberals.  They're an incredibly marginal political group.  The "yuppies" you're talking about are overwhelmingly not vegetarians.  Most of them are probably omnivores who are into locally-sourced, grass-fed meats, or whatever.

Sorry to be so reactive to this, since I know you probably didn't mean much SweedishCheese, but the "I'm not an animal rights nutcase!!" stuff from left-wingers on this forum gets pretty tiresome, and this thread is starting to head there.

I'll abstain from voting for now.  I don't actually know anything about this industry or practice, and this thread hasn't been very illuminating.

You're probably right about the political clout of vegetarians/vegans.  But, this is certainly an example of the political strength of animal rights activists within the Democratic primary in a liberal city.  If we held a referendum, I think most people would want to keep the horses, but a passionate group of people were able to torpedo Christine Quinn and now they're getting what they want.

Also, I'll put myself in the same camp about admitting my general ignorance about horses.  But, nobody here has even been able to articulate a reason for banning the carriages in Central Park.  On top of that, the NYPD still has horses.  Isn't it completely arbitrary to allow the NYPD to ride horses through the busiest, most congested areas of America in lower Manhattan, but say that the carriage ride horses should be banned?  Isn't it arbitrary to allow the use of horses for racing and farm work, yet ban them for this one purpose?

We're also talking about the livelihoods for hundreds of people.  Unless opponents can articulate a strong, non-arbitrary reason for banning the practice, it seems fair to allow the horses to stay.

[7,052,770]

I will admit that my "Yea" vote is based on the obvious misery abd mistreatment of the similar carriage horses in New Orleans. My assumption that the situation is similar in New York may not be correct.

Exhaust and asphalt are very bad for horses, but if the Central Park horses are never exposed to either, and it can be proven they are not abused, it may not be a big deal.

[IceSpear]

Clearly this is the most important political issue of our time.

[Vosem]

Against. They've been there forever with no harm ever coming to anyone, and it's important to oppose the DeBlasio Agenda.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Exhaust and asphalt are very bad for horses, but if the Central Park horses are never exposed to either,

I believe they are, but that's all the more reason to support Ray's proposal that they simply not be.

If that turns out to be completely unfeasible then it may be time to consider a ban on animal welfare grounds, sure. Densely populated areas aren't inherently bad for horses as a concept provided that their stabling is good enough but you're right in implying that urban areas are not what they were a hundred years ago.

[angus]

Are you suggesting we should also stop shearing sheep and milking cows? Or have dogs guarding homes? Or, may be, petting cats?

I'm not suggesting that you stop anything.  I'm simply saying that I feel sorry for the beasts. 

[minionofmidas]

Horses are horrible creatures and should be wiped out. I support anything that will make their presence less felt.

What happened bro?  A horse kill your mother?

The Healy-Raes celebrated victory on horseback. If you don't understand why that's enough to turn any urban modernist Irishman into a raging equinophobe, you need to read up on Jackie Healy-Rae.

Lewis understands.

   

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Although, alas, no "roving pikeys" actually still having horses to rove on over here.