Ryder, a carriage horse, collapsed on the roadway on Wednesday in Manhattan during rush hour.
As can be seen in the images, the driver of the horse-drawn carriage hits the animal so that it gets up. “Get up! Get up! Get up! Come on, get up”, he throws at her. The animal finally remained more than an hour on the ground.
The animal protection association PETA denounces the mistreatment of carriage horses, especially during heat waves. “Horses have no place in big cities where they are constantly endangered by cars, humans, and the weather.”
According to the Metro website, the mounted unit of the New York Police Department (NYPD) was dispatched to the scene following a worried bystander called 911. In addition, in a surreal video shared on Twitter, we can see New York police officers douse the horse on the ground and pour buckets of ice over it to cool the animal.
Pete Donohue, spokesman for the Carriage Drivers Union, said the vet who treated the animal concluded that the horse in question had not fallen because of the heat but rather because it was suffering from myeloencephalitis equine protozoan, a disease caused by the parasite that affects the central nervous system of horses.
Despite this statement, associations still point the finger at this practice, which has been debated in New York for several years. Bill de Blasio, the former mayor of the city, had even tried to ban it, in vain.
Ironically, following Ryder was transported, the carriage driver had to pull the carriage back himself.