PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Edita Birnkrant, Executive Director of New Yorkers for Clean, Livable, and Safe Streets (NYCLASS)
3:55:55
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159 sec
Edita Birnkrant, Executive Director of NYCLASS, testified on various animal welfare issues in New York City, including support for Intro 1018, the need for low-cost veterinary services, and concerns about carriage horses. She urged the council to address the suffering of carriage horses and called for action on Intro 967.
- Highlighted the need for free or low-cost spay/neuter services and pet-friendly housing legislation
- Discussed the ongoing issues with the horse carriage industry, including a current criminal case against a carriage owner
- Raised concerns about wet markets in NYC as potential sources of viral transmission
Edita Birnkrant
3:55:55
Hi.
3:55:55
My name is Adita Burncrant, and I'm the executive director of night class, and I wanna thank you for holding this important hearing.
3:56:01
I'll start by saying that we are in full support of intro 1018.
3:56:05
And as we've heard, there's a desperate need for low cost veterinary services for New Yorkers and for widely available free or low cost to Spain Newder, and we hope to work with the council to make this a reality, and also to make the pets in housing legislation a reality because we need to get to the roots of the problem.
3:56:24
But I wanna touch on another species in New York City that needs desperate rescue and that is the carriage horses.
3:56:32
71% of polled New Yorkers support ending the abuse of horse carriage business yet every single day right now.
3:56:40
We see senior unwell horses.
3:56:43
Many with agonizing untreated injuries and ailments pulling carriages and chaotic traffic day and night.
3:56:50
Some crash into cars, some collapse are dropped dead on the street.
3:56:54
In fact, this morning, a few Blocks away, there was a trial date at the Manhattan criminal courthouse for district attorney Alvin Bragg's prosecution of longtime horse carriage owner Ian McKeever for criminal animal cruelty for working his elderly sick horse rider to death.
3:57:12
And by the way, rider was given a completely clean bill of health by the Department of Health and licensed to work an elderly cancer ridden horse, and that's the case for many.
3:57:24
Police, chair Schulman, and the health committee.
3:57:27
Let's not neglect these suffering horses a minute longer.
3:57:31
We desperately need a health committee on riders law, intro 967.
3:57:37
So that we can finally do what the overwhelming majority of New Yorkers want.
3:57:43
You and the city council to do, which is to shut down this criminal horse carriage abuse happening every day.
3:57:50
That is actually being enabled by the city agencies and by the city council every day those horses are out there.
3:57:58
Just wanna take one more second to point out that Tuesday's science times, the cover story was about New York City's wet markets.
3:58:08
Petri dishes for a new pandemic, New York's animal wet markets with weak weak regulations pose a serious risk for viral transmission experts say.
3:58:18
I worked with the reporter for months behind the scenes.
3:58:20
Council member Bob Holden is the only council member to ever come with me to see the conditions in these markets that are breeding grounds for infectious diseases.
3:58:31
We cannot turn a blind eye any longer, please.