NY carriage horse dies in street

http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?t=328281

To: the Editor - The Horse magazine
cc: AAEP President : Dr Bill Moyer
cc: New York City Department of Health - Norma Torres
cc: New York City Mayor's Office - Mayor Michael Bloomberg
cc: City Council Speaker Christine Quinn
cc: Dr Elizabeth Buckles, Cornell University Veterinary medicine pathology deptartment
cc: Eva Hughes & Steve Malone - NYC Carriage Horse industry representatives
cc: Emily Hager, writer for the NY Times
cc: Stacy Wolf , ASPCA
cc: Matt Bershadker, ASPCA

TO: EDITOR, THE HORSE MAGAZINE


RE: http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=19114


Sir/Mme,


Please note that your online article showing the ASPCA's dismissive interpretation of my wife's suspension is not countered by the pertinent facts. Neither is the ASPCA's statement balanced by a counter-statement from the Carriage horse industry. The most important factual omission of your article is regarding Dr Corey's statements that she was under pressure by the ASPCA to "spin" news about any incident involving the NYC carriage horses. The ASPCA has a stated mission to ban the carriage horse industry.


It is important to note here that the ASPCA has an inherent conflict of interest regarding the carriage horses since they are chartered by New York State with Humane Law Enforcement (HLE) over the carriage horses, and, the ASPCA has a stated campaign objective of banning the NYC carriage horses on the basis of their belief that the industry is inherently cruel to horses.


Dr Corey has been placed in the untenable position of being in charge of equine law enforcement - an objective non-political task , and yet, her communications on carriage horse issues are funneled through the ASPCA media department who have the objective of painting the carriage horse industry in the worst manner. The ASPCA is campaigning to ban the industry as an "animal rights" campaign, yet is charged by New York State to carry out law enforcement over the industry they wish to destroy !


Dr Corey freely admitted to signing off on the original press statement about the carriage horse Charlie's death, which she now views as a personal mistake as the result of employer pressure. She later released, on her own authority as the Director of Equine Humane law Enforcement, a corrected media statement.


The corrected media statement was made to correct the original statement, which she felt was misleading. She felt, along with other stakeholders directly involved in the Charlie investigation, that the original statement misled, in an accusatory manner, the public to indict the carriage horse industry in Charlie's death.


In an effort to maintain the scientific objectivity that she is charged with in her HLE position at the ASPCA, she admittedly defied internal ASPCA media policy. It is noteworthy that she was never expressly prohibited by her superiors at the ASPCA from releasing the corrected statement. In fact, her exclusive expert role at the ASPCA in equine issues was reinforced in a telephone conversation with ASPCA VP in charge of the HLE division (Stacy Wolf) immediately before the release of the corrected statement.


Before releasing the corrected statement, Dr Corey provided her superiors with a copy for them to review and approve. Dr Corey's suspicions that she was being pressured to portray ("spin") carriage horse incidents in the worst possible light were reinforced in a verbal statement by ASPCA VP Matt Bershadker. In a telephone conversation immediately prior to Dr Corey releasing the corrected statement, Mr Bershadker asserted on the telephone that Dr Corey did not have the same set of "beliefs" regarding the carriage horse issue. This statement of Mr Bershadker is obviously inappropriate and indicates ASPCA political pressure on Dr Corey, since "beliefs" have no role whatsoever in HLE which is law enforcement.


After the release of the corrected statement on thursday Nov 3rd, Dr Corey respectfully provided full disclosure to the ASPCA. She emailed her superiors the list of stakeholders who received the corrected statement. The following day she was suspended without pay for an indefinite period of time, and with no reason provided.


As part of the suspension Dr Corey was forbidden from communicating with other staff at the ASPCA. Although there was no explicit order in the suspension from communicating with the media, Dr Corey has refrained from communications with the media during the suspension. As her spouse, I have been screening all of her phone calls and informing the media that she was not making any further statements during the suspension.


My wife has been under enormous stress during a long period of time in her position at the ASPCA because of the untenable position she has been put in by her employer. She has also been under enormous stress by being the target of personal attack by the anti-carriage horse protest groups that are perennially & viciously vocal in their beliefs.


One of Dr Corey's greatest fears has been to lose an amount of credibility in the veterinary community as a result of the pressure on her by her employer. I feel that your online story in THE HORSE presents only one side of a very controversial and complicated issue, and as such it is unfair to Dr Corey.


In the aftermath of this controversy becoming public, many veterinarians have expressed support for Dr Corey and her dedication to the truth. However, many veterinarians not familiar with the highly regulated urban carriage horse industry might think she was incompetent if they only read the ASCPA's dismissive responses.




I believe it is irresponsible to print the ASPCA's version of events verbatum, and not present the other side of the story from the carriage horse industry itself. I am copying this letter to the representatives of the carriage horse industry so that you may communicate with them directly and provide all sides of the story to your readers.




I also encourage you to contact the NYC Department of health to get a balanced view of the issue, and I have copied them with this communication as well. It is important to note that the NYC Department of Public Health, who share regulatory oversight of the NYC carriage horse industry, had requested a retraction / clarification of the original ASPCA media statement on Charlie's death. The ASPCA denied them a copy of Dr Corey's corrected statement.






In case you did not see it, please view the link below to the editorial page of yesterdays New York Post which in my opinion covered the issue in a more balanced fashion than the NY Times online article. Neither my wife nor I ever talked to the NY Post journalists. They came up with this editorial through their own research:


http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion...kHxnalD2VJE3kN




Also, please note that NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg has consistently defended the carriage horse industry against the relentless and hysterical attacks by the animal rights activists. It appears to me that the ASPCA wants to channel the protesters rage against a legitimate industry for their shared ends based on their shared beliefs that the carriage horse industry is inherently cruel. Perhaps this is the time that New York State should consider revoking ASPCA's HLE charter and give it to an agency that can act impartially without bias.




Mike Larsson
Livestock Inspector
Jericho NY
__________________
VP NY Horse & Carriage Association
 
Because of the horse being made an athlete par excellence, with the extra red blood cells being released by the spleen so the horse is capable of fleeing for long distances I believe it is more prone to heart attacks than many other animals. An adrenalised shock or excitement earlier in life could have produced a weakness that might be undetected for years. I expect many old horses are found dead and have succumbed to this without being observed.
As for this article, i believe a very famous horse dropped dead for the same cause on Sunday. I am rather surprised the Daily Mail has not printed pictures of this as well. The horse in the photo in this article looks well cared for (no stables stains or ribs sticking out) and clearly the comments are being made in ignorance.
 
The horses are obviously well cared for and I've seen far worse conditions in British riding schools. My daughter's TB had ulcers which had been untreated for some time, before she had him and he looked very poor. Those horses look well covered and well catered for. The ramp out of the stalls would not be a problem for the majority of horses to negotiate. Lots of fuss about nothing.
 
Alec Swan said:
Equibrit,

are the ASPCA a body funded by charitable donations, as our own RSPCA?

Alec.
Click to expand...

That's what I understand from the comment left by a pro-carriage driver campaigner on my blog. Her comment included this:

In a nutshell: the ASPCA is a behemoth, NYC-based 501(c)3 with $140 mil annual budget, which runs its own private police force, the Humane Enforcement Division. These uniformed officers have summons books, handcuffs, and guns, and enjoy the status of peace officers. They operate at the behest of the ASPCA hierarchy and their donors, as does their overseeing veterinarian. In a classic and stunning conflict of interests, the ASPCA has a stated mission of putting the carriage industry out of business; yes, they are in charge of investigating and monitoring an industry they have sworn to close down.

But it doesn’t stop there.

3 years ago, a mega-wealthy real estate developer who has his eye on the properties our stables sit on, created a front group which ostensibly is concerned with the welfare of our horses, NYCLASS, a 501(c)4.

Oh, and the group has a co-founder: Ed Sayres, CEO of the ASPCA.
Click to expand...
 
PETA need to get their backsides over to Eygpt, to see cruelty and exploytation (sp)..of horses.
Those New York carriage horses look in very good condition, I don't agree in the hours they have to do, but they have a job, if they didn't, they would probably be making the journey to Mexico :-(
 
S_F,

I've done a bit of modest research, and it would seem, from the ASPCA's website, that they're heavily reliant upon public donations. Whether that's their total funding source, or not, isn't clear.

What is clear, is that whilst wearing two separate and conflicting hats, they have legal powers. I'm staggered. Here in the UK, no prosecuting council would rely upon the evidence provided by officers who have a secondary, and presumably influencing bias towards fund raising.

To your second quote, and the paragraph which starts..."3 years ago......", at least here in the UK, the property developer would be shot down, a bit smartish, .......or would he?

At least here in the UK, we have Trading Standards, Defra and the Police, who are the only ones able to affect a prosecution. Can you imagine if the RSPCA were given such powers? Their generally inept approach would end up in chaos!! :rolleyes:

Alec.
 
The woman veterinary recanted her story. She was pressured to give the party line, the problem was, she knew she was lying and that other vets would expose her. She finally came forward and admitted she was wrong.

I love where the ASPCA talked of a horse having ulcers as uncommon...over 75% of race horses have ulcers. They aren't a death sentence.

The ASPCA are an animal rights group who would prefer no horses be ridden, no pets, no dairy and no meat production. They also hate horse shows. Their main function is to raise money. Of course, how generous would the parking lot developer be to a group who freed up lovely property for him....VERY!
 
I was in New York in August, this year, and it was extremely hot and humid. Our hotel was on Central Park and the Carriage horses 'parked up' along the road side outside the hotel, under the park trees.
The horses were fed and watered regularly. Yes, they were in the traces for a long time, but not continually working. They seem to get plenty of naps though...... ;D They looked to be well muscled, fit and sound. On average, they would condition score at about 2.5 out of 5. Lean, not carrying excess tissure, but no ribs on show.
If they looked neglected, people would not charter them so it is the best interests of the drivers to look after thier horses.
I saw some of the stables and they looked clean, well organised and roomy. (We were walking back from Hudson River to Time square and just stumbled upon them)

Agree about the condition of horses in Egypt and Asia being in a far worsestate.
 
Last edited:
Equibrit,

thanks for those postings. Whether the ASPCA covers the whole of the USA, or it's just regional, I don't know, but with assets in excess of 166 Million dollars, I was a little surprised to read that they care for 3000 animals annually! I'd bet that, minuscule though the UK is by comparison, our own RSPCA probably exceed that figure, by some way, and without such massive financial input!

I suppose that if tangible input is kept to a minimum, then assets are just bound to grow. If I'm right, then the ASPCA are morally corrupt.

I enjoyed the input from the stabling film, and think that their system is very well run. The amount of actual work which those horses do, is minimal, and I'd think that boredom would be the greatest problem. Those horses employed, would simply lean into a collar, or breast plate, and would barely notice the work load.

Alec.
 
Last edited:
Thank you! Have added the update.

It's all bizarre. The anti-carriage horse people say the conditions are awful, but the ASPCA monitors them and knows what the standard is, and yet the ASPCA supporters seem to think that the ASPCA doesn't enforce those conditions at all.

It's not even a circular argument.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top