These horses are well cared for, in good health, and protected by state laws that govern how often and in what weather they can work. LEAVE THEM BE! The carriage horses have been in NYC longer than any legislators have, and there is no legitimate reason to "get rid of" them. Please dont tell me that the ASPCA is aligning itself with the PETA whackjobs or the ASPCA will no longer receive a penny from me - and I have been very generous with the ASPCA over the years.

Perhaps you could send all the horses back to Europe where they came from. The indigenous horses in North America who crossed the land bridge from Asia to get here were all hunted out by the indigenous peoples who came across with them for food. The 'green' electric cars run on lithium-ion batteries which take a whole lot longer to break down in a landfill than a horse takes to be born, live, die and decompose. Why not just keep the horses working there so the money needed for their food and care is provided by those who enlist their service. I am not from NY, but I have visited, and I have seen the horses in the stand at CP. The horses I saw looked to be in good health in accordance with their breeds (Heavy draughts are not built the same way as warmbloods, and most appeared to be some sort of cross, as is preferable for that kind of work) There are trees along the stand, the buckets under the carriages had water in them, and some of the horses were drinking, or eating during a break in their shift. I visited one of the stables and it looked much cleaner than some horse barns I've seen in the country. There are hundreds of starving horses all over Idaho and Wyoming who have been 'set free' by people who cannot afford to care for them and have not the stomach to take them to a sale. I know it's so far removed from your magic island, but there are horses your fortunes could help, and if you looked into them I'm sure you could find ways to spend all that donated, tax deductible money on horses that truly need it.

I would gladly give a lifetime home to one of NYC's carriage horses should the bill to ban them become law. BUT the way the law is written, I can't becaue I operate livery service and provide horse-drawn carriages for weddings. NYC carriage horse owners would prohibited from selling one of their horses to me. My horses work only acouple hours a month. The fees charged help to pay for the keeping of several other retired horses. All my horses get the best in feed, care, vet and farrier care- AND they are not in the city. But the radical animal rights people would rather see these horses lose their jobs and have to be put down or sold to slaughter agents rather than be sent to a livery service like mine. I ask you is this really in the horses' best interests? Also the ASPCA supports a ban of the carriage horses but hasn't come out asking that police horses be banned. If NYC is such a bad place for carriage horses that they need to be banned for their won good, then why not ban the mounted police, too? Don't the police horses breathe the same aire, walk on the same streets, travel in the same traffic and live in NYC just like the carriage horses do?

I am totally against phasing out horse-drawn carriages in NYC. I think the ASPCA is wrong to allow itself to become a pawn used by greedy land developers and radical animal rights groups. I used to donate to the ASPCA, but no more because of your inn-considered stand of the NYC carriage horses in particular and carriage horses in general. The bill as written prohibits carriage horses owners from selling their horses to other carriage owners elsewhere, and as such, is an attck of private property ownership. The bill prohibits the carriage horses owners from selling or even giving their horses to other who would ride or drive them, but it doesn't prohibit them from selling their horses to horse slaughter agents. What kind of concern does this show for the horses ASPCA? I thought your organization was founded to stop cruelty, not enable it. Sorry ASPCA but you are way off-base on this one.

I have yet to see an actual, concrete plan of what would happen if the carriage horse trade was shut down tomorrow – what would happen to the horses? Would the owners be allowed to keep them? Would they be compensated for the lack of income? Would they be given money for board and feed? Or would we allow their horses to be forcibly taken from their owners, people who have done nothing wrong, and turn them over to some unknown third party? If that were to happen, these owners will never know what became of their horses – whether they are being properly fed or sheltered or cared for. Horses are working animals and carriage horses in particular, since they are draft breeds, are built for this type of work. Do not allow hard-working, animal-loving carriage horse drivers to fall to misguided animal rights activists and real estate special interests.

From the NYCLASS website: "NYCLASS will rescue all carriage horses and place them on farms and other similar suitable sanctuaries to be recuperated to their natural, healthy capacity and live out the remainder of their lives." So please ask Mayor Bloomberg to pass Intro. 86!

I am just a horse on central park south. I know everyone is having a hard time these days, so asking you to send me to a field to retire and relax may be too much for a simpleton like me. Though my ancestors lived here wild and free, and now there are all those oil driven cars, it seems like there are all these other issues you have to work through. So asking that you ban carriages at the moment may be too much. So, I had a thought, as I was sitting out here, maybe the heat went to my mane...(it is 89 degrees, but since I stand here sometimes for hours waiting for fares in this direct sunlight is actually about 110 degrees)... Again, I am sorry to ask for this, but many of my relatives died from heat stoke, and sometimes I am sure I will too.. so .. I heard about this town called Paris. And they say there are a lot of trees. And Central Park has some trees, but they have us wait for fares on Central Park South where there are hardly any trees. Maybe only one or two on the north side of the street that one of us occasionally gets to rub our cheek on. so, I was just wondering.. about all these great organizations.. like peta, aspca,.. and who is that great television personality and animal lover .. ellen? Doesn't anybody think that maybe some trees would be good for NY, and for us.. while you humans work through all your issues?

Very good point, Jenna. That is very worrisome, call me naive, but I would of course hope that the ASPCA, PETA, and other organizations would handle that. This is definitely a step in the right direction...

Do we know what will happen to the horses once they no longer have a "job"?