Audra Gibson (former Charleston carriage worker) testifies remotely opposing ban

Hello, good evening.

My name for the record is Audra Gibson.

I am very much in the minority in comparison to those who have testified that I am here to oppose the March's law.

I think what happened to that young man is devastating.

But was an accident.

Background-wise, I work in Midtown Manhattan.

Prior to that, I lived in Charleston, South Carolina for 20 years, and for approximately four and a half of those years, worked in the carriage industry.

It was my job to make sure that the horses got enough rest between tours.

Constantly in front of water.

I measured their breathing respirations between tours.

I made sure that their temperatures were taken between every single tour.

If a temperature was too high, we immediately pulled those horses off of tour rotation and cooled them down.

We were responsible for vet care,

farrier care, dental equine care, and more.

There's absolutely zero percent of the industry that I was involved with that was anything close to animal cruelty or abuse.

And I find it offensive that so many people

people have just blatantly accused people in the industry of that.

We loved those horses and animals like members of our family.

I saw many carriage owners spend thousands of dollars taking care of animals that they knew would never go back on tour, never be back in the industry.

To make sure that they were well cared for.

There is an unfair standard that is being held here.

Over 100 people a year are killed crossing the street in the city of New York.

There are people that fall from

Time expired.

Can you summarize the rest of what you have to say, and then you can submit the lengthy testimony to us?

I can.

If you would be so kind to give me the address, I'd be happy to submit the rest.

It's testimony at council.nyc.gov.

G-O-V.

Okay.

Okay?

To conclude, I would say that...

Charleston has over 40,000 carriage tours a year.

We're the most highly regulated industry in the world.

And so you can regulate around this.

You can regulate for safety and do so successfully.

Thank you very much.

Really appreciate it.

So again, it's testimony at council, C-O-U-N-C-I-L.

Dot nyc.gov, okay?

Great, thank you so much.

And you have 72 hours from the end of this hearing to do so.

Thank you.

D.

Schroff is the next person.

S-H-R-O-F-F.

You may begin.