Albany, NY – Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal made the statement below a day after a recording showed a New York City carriage horse painfully stumble and violently fall multiple times on the street before ultimately being dragged into a truck.

“It pained me and countless others to have watched the video of the final gasps of the carriage horse who repeatedly stumbled and violently fell while desperately trying to regain its footing. The last moments of this poor horse’s life were full of terror and pain.

Imagine toiling on the hard streets of Manhattan while pulling thousands of pounds of carriage and passengers, day in and day out, regardless of extreme weather conditions until you breathe your very last breath. That is the sad existence of New York City’s carriage horse.

While it’s still unclear what ultimately led to this poor horse's death, I and many others must ask what this sick or injured horse was doing out working on the streets in the first place. When was the last time it had been examined by a veterinarian? Why wasn’t a veterinarian called to attend to the horse, who was clearly suffering and in grave distress? Why were its legs tied before it was heartlessly dragged into the back of a truck?

It is hard to understand why anyone would treat an animal with such heartlessness.

Until such time as the horse carriage industry is ended, the City must do more to ensure that carriage horses get the proper veterinary screening before they are cleared to work, and along with the advocates I will work to see that all horses engaged in the industry are treatment humanely.”