About a year ago, a ten year old carriage horse named Aysha (sometimes spelled “Aisha”) died after collapsing in Central Park. Her fall was captured on video, causing an immediate uproar against the industry.
But a newly published press release by the Transport Workers Union, which represents the carriage drivers, says that experts who examined Aysha believed she was suffering from a preexisting condition, and that a veterinarian who performed an autopsy did not suspect any wrongdoing.
Dr. Camilo B. Sierra, an equine veterinarian who conducted a post-mortem examination of Aysha, said that “On physical exam, I found (this) horse in good condition, no evidence of struggle, no marks, no fractures, and no injuries consistent with abuse or mishandling.”
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Vets suspected that Aysha had been suffering from Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy, or PSSM, which “negatively affects how animals convert food into energy and store it for future use in muscle cells.” Here are the medical reports the Transport Workers Union provided us with (with sensitive information redacted).
However, another veterinarian – Dr. Eileen Jefferson, who serves as the NYS Representative for the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association – noted that while the post-mortem did in fact suggest Aysha was suffering from PSSM, it did not have to be the cause of her death.
Dr. Jefferson wrote that about 39% of Aysha’s breed suffer from the disease, and that it can be easily diagnosed. She also states that PSSM’s devastating effects are “preventable in nearly all cases through changes in dietary and exercise management.”
She continued to state that, “Despite such a high prevalence of this disease in draft horses, there has been no indication that the New York City carriage industry utilizes any of the available diagnostic screens to prevent the potentially excruciating and debilitating effects of PSSM.”
NYCLASS, an animal rights organization which has been fighting to ban New York’s horse carriage industry, argues that Aysha was killed by neglect and preventable disease, and is planning a March 1 protest at the Central Park entrance at 59th and Sixth Avenue.
? PROTEST MONDAY: Autopsy reveals NYC carriage horse Aysha KILLED by industry-wide neglect + preventable disease enabled by @nycHealthy – like so many other carriage horses. NY Veterinarian + NYCLASS call on @NYCCouncil to BAN the abuse. 12pm-1pm March 1: https://t.co/t3OAmUaeH1 pic.twitter.com/eyx7TT1qqk
— NYCLASS (@nyclass) February 28, 2021
NYCLASS says it plans to expose and explain the autopsy results, and to address a “lack of testing for common carriage horse ailments and diseases resulting in sick, diseased horses being worked and calling for City Council to ban horse carriage abuse.”
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Edita Birnkrant, the executive director of NYCLASS, released the following statement:
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“NYCLASS and outraged people around the world demanded to know what caused Aisha’s painful death. Although carriage driver representatives falsely claimed that a cardiac event was the likely cause of her death, veterinarians asserted that such episodes are actually the most unlikely, and that video footage was instead highly suggestive of a common neuromuscular disease. Recently obtained necropsy results revealed the true, undiagnosed and preventable cause of Aysha’s death. Aysha, like so many other carriage horses – ultimately died of a deeply-rooted industry-wide neglect that is enabled by NYC’s Department of Health. It allows the substandard treatment of these horses to persist.”
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And here is a statement from Christina Hansen, a spokeswoman for the drivers:
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=”16″] “The carriage drivers are grateful for the work of equine veterinarians in caring for our horses. Once again, equine veterinarians and the regulators in the NYC Health Department are in agreement that the carriage horses are being properly cared for. On the one-year anniversary of Aysha’s tragic death, and with less than four months before the city primary elections, we are dismayed that her passing is being exploited and misrepresented by extremist special interests for political gain. Those lobbying groups are spreading lies on social media that Aysha was a victim of neglect and abuse, which is not only shameful and hurtful, but contradicted by all evidence. We want to share these medical records because the carriage folks have always been transparent and open about our horses’ lives and our work together. We’re still grieving for Aysha’s loss last year, but we’re also upset that activists continue to lie about her death to inflame the emotions of well-meaning animal lovers and politicians. As always, the men and women who care for and work with these magnificent horses are here to tell the truth and educate the public.”[/perfectpullquote]
It should be noted that the vet supporting NYCLASS’s claims is a small animal vet who does not work on horses and that all the equine vets that actually examined Aysha do not agree with them.
Tests for the PSSM gene is rarely done by horse owners -including the NYPD Mounted Unit that uses draft horses- because treatment would include a diet and exercise no different from a carriage horse without the gene.
And her name was only “sometimes spelled Aisha” because NYCLASS knew so little about the horse and the carriage industry they simply spelled it wrong originally.
Even more interesting, the carriage industry hadn’t had a single case of a horse tying up in about 25 years, but right after their hackline was pushed to be moved from flat ground to a hill by NYCLASS this happened to Aysha. Equine vets had advised against the move stating the hill could cause incidents like this to happen but NYCLASS completely ignored them.
Obviously a covid death.
As a native New Yorker, I have seen the misery these horses endure, and it is truly heartbreaking. They are on the street pulling carriages in dangerous weather – even blizzards, downpours and heatwaves. They regularly crash into vehicles, fall on the street and some even have galloped through traffic with no carriage driver. NYCLASS has documented many, many cases of sick, abused horses pulling carriages. How can we think *any* of this is acceptable in this day and age? I’ve also seen that anyone who expresses concern for the welfare of these horses to the carriage drivers, as I and many of my NYC friends have – they get abusive, often in a sexist, racist, homophobic way They are a very, very nasty lot of people. Bullies. Someone needs to explain to them that it is not 1821 – it’s 2021. Abusing horses to line their pockets can’t continue. And have you seen their stables near the West Side Highway? Hellholes. Where is their pasture area for horse grazing, you may ask? They don’t have one, which should outrage anyone who cares about horses. These horses are at our mercy, like all animals. We cannot continue to let a small group of selfish animal abusers work these horses until they drop dead. Why is NYC one of the last of the major cities to still have carriage horses dragging people though the car-filled streets? How can we call ourselves the greatest city in the world and allow this? I am 1 million percent behind banning this cruelty. Real New Yorkers have compassion for those at our mercy.