Aaron Gekoski/HIDDEN/We Animals

Tell NYC Council: Support Ryder’s Law and protect carriage horses

This summer, Lady, a 15-year-old carriage horse who had only been in the city for two months, collapsed and died after being made to pull a carriage in sweltering heat. Her death came almost three years to the day after poor Ryder (who was well into his senior years and underweight) collapsed in the summer heat on a busy Midtown street and was later euthanized.

There is no way to make a dense urban environment safe for these sensitive flight animals. This is 2025, not 1825.

Veterinary professionals have repeatedly asserted that the crowded, unpredictable and noisy streets of New York City subject carriage horses to chronic stress and markedly increased risk of respiratory disease, lameness, heat exhaustion and immune suppression. This is especially true in the older horses, who are more likely to have undiagnosed or overlooked diseases, such as cancer or heart conditions, that are incompatible with the level of performance demanded of them.

Ryder’s Law will responsibly phase out horse drawn carriages, protecting both workers and animals, and reducing public safety risks.

TAKE ACTION

Please take a moment to contact your city councilmember today to ask them to co-sponsor Ryder’s Law and urge Speaker Adrienne Adams to advance the measure, which would end new horse-drawn cab licenses, using the form below.

This action alert is for U.S. residents.

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Dear Councilmember,  

I am writing to encourage you to please cosponsor and pass Ryder’s Law (Intro. 967), which would end the issuance of new licenses used in the operation of horse drawn cabs.  

There is no realistic way to make a dense urban environment like New York City a safe working environment for vulnerable and sensitive flight animals. It’s impossible to maintain animal welfare while pulling carriages full of human passengers. The safety and health risks are too high. This is 2025, not 1825.  

In 2022, Ryder, a senior and underweight horse, collapsed in the summer heat while pulling a carriage in Manhattan. He was later euthanized. Ryder’s case revealed serious welfare concerns in the carriage horse industry, including unsafe working conditions, inadequate veterinary oversight and falsified records.  

This August, Lady, a 15-year-old horse who had just arrived in New York, collapsed and died while pulling a carriage in extreme heat. Her short time in the city tragically underscored the risks that all carriage horses face from exhausting labor in dangerous conditions. Only days later, on Labor Day, a terrified runaway carriage horse with no driver caused chaos in Central Park, crashing through street signs and sending park goers fleeing for safety.    
 
Veterinary professionals have repeatedly asserted that the crowded, unpredictable and noisy streets of New York City subject carriage horses to chronic stress and markedly increased risk of respiratory disease, lameness, heat exhaustion and immune suppression. This is especially true in the older horses, who are more likely to have undiagnosed or overlooked diseases, such as cancer or heart conditions, that are incompatible with the demands placed on them.    

Ryder’s Law provides a solution by ensuring both public safety and humane treatment of animals. Ryder’s Law will phase out horse-drawn carriages in New York City by ending the issuance and renewal of licenses, ensuring that the industry will wind down once current permits expire. Please support this transition by cosponsoring Intro 967 and urging Council Speaker Adrienne Adams to advance Ryder’s Law.

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