I believe the rally I saw in City Hall Plaza in Manhattan yesterday was historic, it marked a turning point not only for the carriage horses, but for the future of animals in America. On the train back upstate, I read the media coverage of the two rallies I attended yesterday – one by animal rights groups in support of the mayor’s ban, the other to oppose it and support the carriage trade.

The media stories all said there were two opposing rallies, but they made no effort to capture the feel and tone of either. The carriage trade has really bounced back from the despair and shock they were in earlier this year, when the new mayor said his most urgent priority was to banish them from New York City. They are despairing no longer.

And the war against the horses has sparked a new narrative, a new social awakening among people who know horses and who love animals, they came to City Hall Plaza from everywhere to stand with the carriage trade, the feeling there was righteous, very powerful, articulate and sure. These were not battered people any longer, they were confident and very determined. They will not be dislodged by politicians with fuzzy agendas and ideologues who profess to love animals but exploit them to hate and batter people.

The crowd was outraged, as the New York Times was on Monday, as I have been, at the idea that hundreds of people should have their work and sustenance and property taken from them without cause or any kind of just due process. The carriage trade is truly iconic, much loved by so many people all over the country and much of the world. Many small business owners appeared at the rally, stunned at the idea that the city government would intrude on a well established business that is heavily regulated, consistently profitable and beloved by so many people.

The work and lives of the people in the carriage trade have been invaded in a brutal and extra-legal way. They have committed no crimes, broken no laws, violated no regulations. The rhetoric at the animal rights rally I attended yesterday morning was, once again, shocking ignorant about the rights and needs of horses, their statements revealed a complete ignorance about animals, and grossly distorted or misrepresented the truth about the horses lives in New York.

I will write more about this day tomorrow, it was an important day, a good day for animals and for the people who love them and wish to see them have real rights, especially the right to survive in our world. This rally did not mark the end of the carriage trade, it signaled a new beginning for the rights and welfare of animals.