Dr. Craig Kulikowski testifies on independent vet exam findings

Yes, can you hear me?

Yes, oh, amazing.

All right, so why don't we just, why don't you go ahead and testify and then we'll call the other parts of the panel after, okay?

Okay, great.

Great, thank you.

I would like to thank the City Council for considering the welfare and safety of New York City's carriage horses.

My name is Dr.

Craig Kulikowski.

I'm a New Yorker, an equine veterinarian with almost 30 years of experience, and I have been a horseman for more than 40 years.

Before I was a veterinarian, I competed internationally as an equestrian in several countries and on multiple continents.

I believe that horses, like humans, can work for a living.

But when humans employ horses for entertainment or profit, we assume a serious responsibility to protect their health and welfare.

In many equine industries, including racing and competitive sport, working horses undergo consistent, thorough, and independent veterinary examinations.

These evaluations include observing the horse at the trot to identify lameness, along with blood testing for painkillers, sedatives, stimulants, and other medications that could mask an underlying disease or lameness.

When I was commissioned by the Department of Health to conduct veterinary examinations of 16 carriage horses last year,

The owners did not comply with two critical components of typical examinations, blood testing and the

lameness evaluation.

In fact, two owners did not even show up to present their horses for examination.

In spite of the refusal to comply fully, the truncated exams that I did conduct revealed some troubling concerns for me, including widespread old scars on horses'backs from ill-fitting tack and gear, insufficient dental care,

and lameness that could be visible even at the walk.

While these clinical findings gave me concerns, it was the lack of natural access to pasture that was my biggest concern.

A horse that has consistent access to natural pasture is not only going to be a healthier horse,

but most likely less apt to frantically grab for unnatural toxic forage in Central Park, which may have contributed to at least one recent horse death in the city.

Not having access to consistent pasture also means these horses spend the majority of their days indoors inside horse stalls.

Please bear in mind that a typical 12-foot...

Can you please summarize?

You can always submit testimony.

We have another 10 hours of testimony.

I just want people to know, based on who's signed up, so we have to keep it short.

Yep, I'll be done in just a second.

Okay.

Please bear in mind that a typical 12-foot by 12-foot horse stall for a 1,000-pound horse would be similar to a 200-pound human living in a 5-foot by 6-foot closet for the majority of the day.

It is not hard to imagine how this type of daily confinement might be used.

might lead to unpredictable and extremely dangerous actions by a thousand pound animal when it finally gets outside of its confinement.

The concern is not only that one can evaluate the horse's welfare without full cooperation from owners, but how do we provide adequate relief from prolonged confinement and the dangers associated with cooped up and pent up horses?

Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

All right, now we're going to do the in-person panel.

Roger Mosika, I think it is.

Huh?

I'm sorry.

David Saltonstall, sorry.

I probably butchered that a little.

Dr.

Natalie Juras.

Folks here?

Yes, no?

Laura Spielman, Curtis Sliwa, and Danielle Chin.

Okay, I just want to reiterate to everyone, you have two minutes, because I'm going to start cutting people off and cutting the mics off, because we have a lot of testimony.

You could submit testimony.

It all gets looked at to testimony at council.nyc.gov, and all of it is going to be looked at and taken into account.

So when the buzzer goes off, just summarize, and then we'll go on.

Okay, who's going first?

Okay, go ahead.