The Winter Pasture came early this year, but still stark and stirring in it’s simplicity and beauty. Always a challenge to catch the beauty of the world when the color and the light takes some time off, but the winter pasture is beautiful in it’s own right.
The huge Northeaster continued to swirl around us, snow, ice, sleet and freezing rain. Two awful days of gloom and wind and cold and wet. Donkeys are desert and mountain animals, they don’t a hoot about the weather unless it interferes with their food. Simon, affable as ever, came over to say hello. Went to Battenkill to sign more books, there are still some tote bags – red ones that say “Peace. Love. Books” left to give away to people buying “Saving Simon from Battenkill Books, , but they are going fast. You can order a copy of Simon’s story online at Battenkill Books or by calling the store at 518 677 2515. We’ve sold more than 1,000 books at Battenkill, want her to sell out by Christmas.
I invited Lenore to come out into the pasture today, she seemed eager to come and work with Red. I learned once again that Labs and border collies have very different ideas about work, although both are working breeds. Lenore ran alongside Red as he moved the sheep into position, Lenore followed him, but then seemed confused about what to do next.
Lenore’s philosophy is very Buddhist, she loves all things and threatens nothing. She was content for awhile to sit and watch Red do his thing. First, she greeted two or three of the sheep, wagging her tail, but they wanted no part of her, at least not yet. Perhaps she was thinking of her work in the new children’s book, “Lenore Finds A Friend.”
Lenore sat down and studied the situation – Red is quite easy-going, he didn’t mind her hanging out with him at all. Red focused on the sheep, Lenore took in the sights, sniffed around and then became aware of all the stuff lying under the snow – donkey and sheep droppings. I toss her out of the pasture, but it was fun while it lasted, it was great to see the different notions of work in these two wonderful dogs.
I got to City Hall early Monday and saw that the animal rights rally to support the mayor’s horse ban proposal was getting underway, I got through the police line and listened to the rally.
In fairness, I should say that when I was a reporter – I loved being a reporter – I was thrown out of at least a dozen press conferences, punched in two or three, thrown down the stairs in another, and chased into a church in yet one more by a mayor screaming that I was a smart-ass.
My mentor in newspapers, a wonderful old hard-drinking street reporter named Jack Boucher – he actually wore a fedora and black suit – taught me that my job was to be a warrior for truth. I should always, he said, comfort the afflicted and afflict the comforted.
But it seemed Monday that the reporters in New York were the comforted, as they have been throughout this unnecessary controversy. I haven’t been a reporter in awhile, and I am no tough guy. But I was surprised to see that none of the many reporters at this rally asked any questions, raised their hands, or challenged many of the outrageously dubious statements they were hearing. They seemed to me to be social stenographers, simply recording the accusations and demands of others, and passing them along without taking any responsibliity for them.
In this case it was the animal rights demonstrators they were dutifully recording. The still photographers sat on the ground, shooting up, the video and TV photographers stood back recording the statements.
For just a few minutes, I wished I was a reporter again, and had a press pass. As it was, I would simply have been tossed out if I asked any questions and I wanted to hear what was said. I made a list when I got home.
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So these are the questions I would like to ask the City Council members who introduced the ban. These are the questions I would like to ask the mayor, if he ever decides to answer questions about his jihad against the carriage horses. The mayor doesn’t take questions often, especially questions he doesn’t like. I want to be reasonable and realistic:
1. Mr. Mayor, you have said at least twice that the carriage drivers are immoral, and that their work is immoral. How, then, can you recommend that these same immoral people – whose jobs you propose to take away – be permitted to drive New Yorkers and their families and the elderly and vulnerable around the outer boroughs in those little green cabs. The Taxi And Limousine Commission requires that all of the people who are licensed to offer rides to New Yorkers and visitors be of “good and sound moral character.” Would you want your children – or my child – riding in a car driven by an immoral taxi driver in the Bronx?
Do you really believe the carriage drivers want to drive these cabs, or that riding a tiny green car in far Queens is the same thing as riding a carriage horse in Central Park? What do you say to people shocked at this insensitivity and elitism, on display just a couple of weeks before Christmas?
2. You have been asked why it is abuse for horses to pull carriages but moral and proper for the mounted police horses to stay on those fume-choked city streets. You said it was ridiculous, not comparable, it was “apples and oranges,” but you never explained that phrase and as near as I can tell, have never been asked about it again.
I wonder if you could elaborate on that apples and oranges thing. As even the New York Times has pointed out, the work of a police horse is much more dangerous than the work of a carriage horse, and they do not get the attention, workbreaks, stroking, apple and carrots that people give the carriage horses all day. They are not regulated as to hours or weather. They do not get five weeks of vacation. Don’t the police horses want to go live in freedom in the wild also and eat grass all day with their chums? (And what about the police dogs, or the bomb sniffing dogs of Amtrak, who live in tunnels and are meant to be fodder for bombs and explosives?) Don’t the police horses spook, and aren’t they also a “disaster” waiting to happen, as you and your supporters have claimed?
Aren’t the police horses sad and depressed, aren’t they also being exploited for the benefit of humans? Are the officers who ride them immoral also? The city just arranged for a brand new stable for the police horses on the West Side, right near the carriage horse stables. It was a development deal, part of a real estate project.
Aren’t police horses in far greater danger than any carriage horse? Isn’t police work potentially much more violent than pulling carriages in Central Park?
The horses and the carriage drivers want to know: how does an orange get to be an apple, or is it the other way around?
3. You and the animal rights groups supporting you (or maybe it’s the other way around) say the horses are dangerous, they are easily spooked as prey animals and, said one speaker Monday, once spooked can never be controlled. They are, he said, a catastrophe waiting to happen. But so many catastrophes in New York have already happened. In 2012, there were more than 68,000 automobile collisions involving 128,000 vehicles and 170,000 human beings with 271 fatalities, including 11,000 vehicle-pedestrian accidents, 3,639 bicycle-car accidents and 1,619 motorcycle crashes.
In the last few months, two pedestrians walking legally in Central Park have been run down and killed by bicyclists whose bikes were running fast and out of control. Your response was to authorize sweeping changes in speed limits, signage and bike lanes to make the pedestrians safer. In 2013, two children were killed by falling trees in Central Park. In 150 years, no human being – or child – has been killed by a carriage horse. Why have you not proposed banning bicycles or trees from Central Park?
4. Mr. Mayor, the City Councilman who introduced your ban legislation told reporters that there is no place for animals in New York City. He said he shared your belief that horses are dangerous in New York. Do you share this belief, and if so, do you believe that dogs, who are definitely animals, do not belong in the city? Also, if you are so concerned about the carriage horses and the safety of New Yorkers, will you propose banning dogs? Are you aware that in 2012, the New York City Department of Health reported that more than 7,000 bites were reported by doctors in the five boroughs of New York City, as mandated by law. (Many are believed to go unreported.) The upper extremities, lower extremities, and face were predominantly affected. The peak incidence occurred during the summer months and in children ages 7 to 9 years old.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), tentative dog bite figures for New York City in 2012 were 7,432, more than half involving children. The American Pediatric Association reports dog attacks on children to be both epidemic and “horrific,” since they often occur around the face, eyes and neck. Dog bites on children, says the CDC, are increasing throughout the country at a rate of 47 per cent a year and in nearly half of those cases, require reconstructive facial surgery
Mr. Mayor, if the horses, none of whom has ever killed or maimed a child, are too dangerous for New York, what about dogs, who injure so many thousands of New Yorkers, many of them children, every year? New Yorkers seem willing to accept the risks of having dogs around, they have chosen to keep them in the city because they do more good than harm. At least 66 per cent of the city’s residents say they have made the same choice about the carriage horses, who pose very little risk. Why are you ignoring those choices? In a democracy, and in a progressive city, doesn’t a strong majority matter?
Can you explain in more detail – you haven’t explained it all yet – why you are determined to ban the only animals in New York that do not hurt people in Central Park or anywhere else, while leaving alone the many animals and machines that hurt people in New York every day?
5. Mr. Mayor, you have repeatedly said that horses do not belong in cities, I wonder if you are aware that horses have lived and worked in every major city on the earth since the beginning of urban civilization from Rome to New York. Are you aware that Central Park was built for carriage horses and that they are an integral part of the city’s history, spirit, culture and romance. Is that important to you, and does it matter to you that tourists and visitors and many city residents love the horses and want them to remain. In a democracy, does that matter at all?
6. Mr. Mayor, many people in the carriage trade believe you are seeking to ban them as part of a scheme for real estate developers to take over the carriage stables on the West Side. Is that true, and if it is not true, can you be transparent and tell us exactly how much money NYClass and other so-called animal rights groups gave you for your campaign and what, if anything, was promised in exchange for the money and support you received? Public confidence in your integrity and the integrity of government – already low for many people – would be better served by transparency, something you have advocated in your administration but have not adopted in this controversy.
The legal dictionary defines a bribe as money or any other valuable consideration given or promised with a view to corrupting the behavior of a person, especially in that person’s performance as an athlete, public official, etc. Could you please give us the details of your relationship with NYClass and tell us if any kind of pledge or promise was given in exchange for the millions of dollars that organization funneled into the mayoral campaign on your behalf.
Relevant to that, it is well-known that NYClass has given millions of dollars – most of it collected from people who thought they were saving horses from abuse – to politicians and political campaigns. Can you or anyone in your administration cite or name a single animal that this animal rights group has actually saved or rescued from abuse and real danger?
7. Mr. Mayor, you said banning the horses was the most urgent priority of your administration, you were going to do it on “day one.” Is that still your major priority in a city with so many urgent and pressing issues – just to consider the demonstrations occurring all over the city on the very day the ban was introduced into the City Council. Do you regret that statement, would you stand by it still?
8. You say the horses are being abused and mistreated, the work of the carriage trade is immoral. You have also said you have never owned an animal, not even a dog or a cat. Can you tell us what you base this opinion about the horses on? You have described yourself as a proud supporter of the animal rights movement, but have you consulted or meet with any equine expert, behaviorist, trainer or animal lover outside of that movement? Are you aware that there is hardly any reputable equine expert who believes it is cruel or immoral for draft horses to pull light carriages? Does that trouble you?
Can you explain further what the basis is for your strong feelings about the care and welfare or horses?
And why is it, sir, that none of the people in the five city agencies who supervise the horses have cited a single owner or driver for criminal abuse or for violating any of the hundreds of regulations governing the carriage trade. Have you consulted any of the police veterinarians or health inspectors who regularly inspect the horses and the stables and who find the horses safe, well content and well-cared for? Can you produce a single one of those officials who believes it is abusive and immoral for working horses to pull light carriages in Central Park on flat ground?
If you can’t produce a single one, why not? Isn’t this their job, what the taxpayers are paying them for, not your job or the job of NYClass? So many people have wondered if you really believe you don’t have anything more genuine or pressing to do. Do you?
9. Finally, Mr. Mayor, I wonder by what authority or moral reasoning – since you brought up morality – do you choose to shut down a legal, well run and closely regulated private business that has operated for 150 years? And by what authority you choose to dictate the disposal of their property – in this case the horses – and then pressure the carriage drivers into taking jobs they do not want and that are not really even legally available to them? (city licensing laws require at least a full year of driving experience before a medallion or license can be issued.) The people in the carriage trade have broken no laws, committed no crimes, violated none of the many regulations covering their operation.
No one in the five agencies of city government that oversees the carriage trade has recommended that they be shut down or banned.
As a self-described progressive, do you really believe it is a progressive position to wipe out 300 jobs in a profitable and popular industry – a 150-year old tradition – without any legal basis or mandate?
Do you believe the carriage drivers have the same civil and civic rights of other citizens? That they are entitled to freedom and sustenance? That they have the same rights as millionaire real estate developers with their own private agendas? Can you tell us why you will not speak to them, visit their stables or meet with them? Do you believe that you have a moral obligation to meet with the people in the carriage trade, to look them in the eye and explain to them why it is you feel you must take their way of life from them?
10. Mr. Mayor, you and your supporters in the animal rights movement have said the use of horses to pull carriages in the city constitutes abuse. Are you aware that abuse is a crime, it refers to neglect of a domesticated animal that is so severe it causes grievous injury or death? Abuse is not an argument or opinion, it is a statutory crime. Can you tell us how you define abuse and why you have chosen to arbitrarily redefine it outside of any legal or judicial process?
11. You have repeatedly said that every carriage horse will be saved and taken to a safe place, a rescue farm or preserve, that every horse is guaranteed a place go go. Can you reassure us of this by sharing with us the names of these “places” and any information you have about how the care and feeding of these large animals will be funded, as equine organizations have estimated it will cost roughly $24 million to feed more than 200 large draft horses for the rest of their lives. Since you have guaranteed the horses safety if banned, you must be able to provide information on where this money is coming from, especially as so many horse preserves and rescue farms are struggling and closing due to lack of funds.
Well, that’s enough for any one press conference, I have the sinking feeling the mayor will never be asked these questions or, if so, will never answer them. Maybe one of them will slip out into the ether and make it’s way to New York. I am not one for nostalgia, I love my life and my work, I do not ever wish to go back.
But standing there in that City Hall courtyard, I did feel some sorrow at the new kind of politics and media, the kind where a mayor hides behind guards and barriers, refuses to answer honest and challenging questions, and is no longer held accountable by journalists for what he says or does.
Change is creative, change is good, I accept it, but still, there is the loss of something. How wonderful it would be if we could go back in time and a bit and put a bunch of Jack Bouchers in a room with the mayor. There, his hypocrisy and dissembling on this issue would be quickly exposed, be in full view, it would be like a bunch of dogs chewing on a rawhide bone.
Towards the end of the animal rights rally, a city cop guarding City Hall came over to me and we got to talking. Listening to the rally speakers, he shook his head, he said he was a former mounted police officer before he hurt his leg. Did you ever hear such bullshit in your life?, he asked. These are happy horses here. We got to talking, I told him I used to be a reporter, I wish I could get in there and ask some questions. He laughed, the mayor never takes questions, he said, what do you think would happen?
The sad truth, I said, is that if the mayor ever did hold a press conference and reporters did get to question him openly and honestly, then we wouldn’t be standing here, this whole sorry mess would never have happened. It would never have gotten this far. Listening to these people talk about why the horses should be banned, I said, it’s like watching a monkey try and fuck a football.
