Two days after another horse used in New York’s horse-drawn carriage industry collapsed and died in Midtown, Glee star and native New Yorker Lea Michele has written to Mayor Bloomberg to support the city council bill to replace dangerous and cruel horse-drawn carriages with modern, eco-friendly replicas of classic cars.
In the letter, Michele explains that the classic cars—a prototype of which was just unveiled by New Yorkers for Clean, Livable & Safe Streets (NYCLASS)—would bring in tourists, protect drivers’ jobs, and spare horses from pulling carriages in dangerous traffic and in all weather extremes.
“As a New York City native, I was saddened to learn from my friends at PETA that one of the horses used by the city’s carriage industry collapsed and died in Midtown on Sunday morning," she wrote in the letter. "It was a tragic end for a beleaguered horse, and such incidents also put vehicles and passersby in danger.
“With the number of horse-drawn carriage accidents and related deaths rising, it’s painfully clear that these animals do not belong on busy city streets.
“I urge you to support Intro. 86A, which would replace horse-drawn carriages with safe, vintage-replica electric cars. The eco-friendly “horseless carriages” would attract tourists with old New York glamour, protect carriage drivers’ jobs by offering them first rights to the car medallions, and allow for the approximately 220 horses currently working in the carriage industry to be retired to sanctuaries. Please join other city council members in supporting Intro. 86A."
Michele, a PETA supporter since her Spring Awakening days, is the star of PETA’s horse-drawn carriage campaign. As she explains in an exposé of the horse-drawn carriage industry, numerous accidents have left horses dead and people hospitalized in recent years. These accidents will stop completely if New York joins Paris, London, Toronto, and the other cities that have banned the dangerous and cruel horse-drawn carriage trade.
For more information, please visit NYCLASS.org.
Source: PETA
