Kaley Cuoco is often speaking up for animals, from changing the public’s view of pit bulls to calling for animal cruelty like on “Bizarre Foods“ to be off the air.
Yesterday, Cuoco turned to Twitter to speak out against New York City’s horse-drawn carriage industry. The star of “The Big Bang Theory” (@KaleyCuoco) tweeted, “Love everything about NYC but the horse drawn carriages. It’s dangerous and cruel. Aren’t we beyond this ridiculous tourist attraction?”
Cuoco joins a list of celebs who have joined the campaign against horse carriages, which have long proven dangerous to both the horses and humans. Lea Michele, Pamela Anderson, Kristin Chenoweth, Adrien Brody, Anjelica Huston and others have all asked New York City to put an end to what they call a cruel tradition.
NYCLASS, a non-profit organization campaigning for the horse-drawn carriages to bereplaced with horseless ones, explains the danger and cruelty involved. “The 220 horses (68 medallions) routinely work at least 9 hours a day, pulling a vehicle that weighs hundreds of pounds, on hard pavement, while breathing exhaust from cars, buses and taxis. Unaccustomed to the urban environment, horses can be ‘spooked’ easily and cause accidents that inflict great damage on vehicles, drivers and most often, the horses themselves. There were more than 18 accidents in the past two years alone,” they write.
The organization adds, “At the end of the day the horses return to their tiny stalls in stableson the far West side of the city, or as Jon Stewart once called it, ‘The sad-eyed horse carriage district.’ The cramped space doesn’t allow these enormous animals to lie down or to move about freely. Nor are they afforded any turn-out or pasture time that equine veterinarians agree is needed for horses to live healthy lives.” As if that wasn’t bad enough, at the end of their time pulling carriages through the city streets, the horses are often sent to auctions where they will be bought to be killed for meat.
NYCLASS says the public can help bring an end to NYC’s horse-drawn carriages bycontacting city council members, signing their petition, reporting accidents or cruelty to carriage horses, and voting for “humane” NYC candidates in tomorrow’s election. The organization released a scorecard rating the mayoral candidates on several issues including “phasing out horse-drawn carriages, building animal shelters in the Bronx and Queens, requiring fire sprinklers in pet stores, and protecting tenants’ right to have pets.”