Yay, We Won!!

Yay, We Won!!
Now Where's My Carrot??

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Congratulations to the NYC Horse and Carriage Industry!

This past week the NYC Council passed our bill, Intro 35A with a vote of 46-4 with Mayor Bloomberg expected to sign it into law in the coming days!

2+ years of hard work on the part of many of our members has paid tremendous dividends for both us and our horses, as this bill codifies our high standards, and gives us our first rate increase in 21 years!

We will now be able to go ahead with our pro-active agenda, both for the horses and the industry as a whole. The rate increase plus the fact that the time-consuming work of getting the bill passed is over, will now allow us to tend to our business, and also loosens our purse strings with regards to improvements.

Make no mistake; all provisions in this bill were carefully handcrafted jointly by the industry, the NYC Rental Horse Advisory Board, and Councilmembers. The media is reporting this story as if the horse care provisions were "forced" on the industry -nothing could be further from the truth. *WE* were the ones who wanted to standardize the quality of care our horses receive - there is nothing in this bill that we either didn't suggest or agree with.

A very special THANK YOU to Teamsters Local 553 - we could not have done this without your dedication and help!

Another big THANK YOU to Council Speaker Christine Quinn, for standing up for what is right in the face of ridicule, abuse, and harassment by the "animal rights" contingent.

A hearty THANK YOU to all the Councilmembers who voted for us.

A horsey THANK YOU to our brethren carriage operators across the country for your loyalty and moral support!

Most of all, a resounding THANK YOU to the most important people - OUR CUSTOMERS. You are the reason for our existence, your patronage is highly appreciated, and allows us to continue being ambassadors for NYC.

I'll post more on the bill later, including a link to the actual legislation.

For now, I just want to say (with apologies to Robert Duvall):

"I love the smell of horse manure in the morning....it smells like -
Victory."

2 comments:

First Draught Farm said...

PETA's going after carriage horse owners/drivers down here in Georgia right now. . . .

MichaleenFlynn said...

Thank you, Slave!

First Draught - the PETA ghouls rub their hands with glee when there is the rare accident, looking to launch their next salvo against the business by exploiting it for all it's worth.

They are sick, hypocritical misanthropes of the highest order. Fortunately, they are increasingly marginalizing themselves with their lunacy; but I don't allow that to lead to complacency on my part - they are too dangerous.

Don't let them frame the conversation! Atlanta's carriage people need to get their best speakers out there to counter this absurd "blame the victim" line that PETA spews. They should start by publicly asking why PETA KILLS nearly every animal they take in:
http://www.petakillsanimals.com/

Good luck to all of you in Atlanta!