Sunday, February 14, 2010 Have a Heart for the Horses on Valentine's Day New York City activists line both sides of the street for the Central Park Carriage Horses this Valentine's Day  Win Animal Rights has been at the hack line just about every weekend since the beginning of 2010. In that time, it has become clear that the focused presence of demonstrators has had a marked impact on the carriage horse trade. Again, this Sunday activists noticed that the horses are being treated better while at the same time, drivers are having a harder time staying busy and hauling tourists around the park. Signs that clearly show the cruelty of the carriage horse trade were held high for all to see. Literature was distributed freely. Several hundred flyers were given away.  Sadly, Nivea, a company that produces personal care products chose to use the occasion to pimp their products. Horses were covered with blankets advertising Nivea and free samples were given to carriage patrons. No doubt Nivea will soon learn, just how big a mistake they made, by exploiting the downtrodden horses of Central Park to sell their products.  Protesters stood at a spot that was close to where a water trough had been installed. This gave everyone an opportunity to note just how much water the poor horses require while the haul the weighty loads of lazy tourists. Activists were gratified that during the period that they stood in solidarity with the horses, many potential riders turned away after seeing the pictures and hearing about the cruelty inherent in the carriage trade. The cruelty was brought home about 30 minutes after the protest had ended, when four activists including a licensed and practicing NYC Veterinarian witnessed a carriage rider strike his horse on her sensitive nose. His hand came back to strike a second blow which was prevented by the intercession of the activists. The carriage driver bellowed that he had the right to hit his horse as he wished. The passengers got out of his cab and swore that they would never take a carriage ride again. Contact Nivea to protest their exploitation of the NYC Carriage Horses:  |
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