Melissa Pellicera (One Kind World) testifies remotely supporting ban

Yes, good evening, ma'am.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

Wonderful.

Thank you so much.

Good evening, Chair Shulman, Speaker Manin, Council Member Murtay, members of the committee.

I'm sorry that I could not attend in person.

My name is Melissa Pellisera.

I'm the founder of One Kind World Foundation, and I respectfully urge you to pass Intro 0943, Romach Law.

It has been mentioned multiple times today that horses are prey animals.

They have survived by perceiving danger and fleeing from it.

No regulation or reinforcement mechanism can override millions of years of evolution.

They are meant to traverse vast landscapes, forage freely, and live within enduring family bands.

It is their inviolable right to be born and to live free, and we have stolen this right from them.

Every human enterprise built upon the use of horses begins with the same assumption, that another living being's freedom may be subordinated to our desires.

There is a reason the traditional expression is to break a horse.

Before a horse can serve our purpose, its own will must first be overcome.

Throughout this hearing, it was suggested that those of us who defend animals seek to remove them from human lives.

That misunderstands our position entirely.

We do not seek to remove them from human lives.

remove horses from the human story.

We seek to remove oppression from theirs.

Let us call this what it is.

It is animal exploitation.

These are magnificent sentient beings, and they were never ours to use.

Their lives belong to them.

It was said today that horse-drawn carriages have been part of New York City since 1858.

History is not only a record of traditions we preserve, it is also a record of practices humanity eventually found the courage to abandon.

Longevity has never conferred moral legitimacy.

Human alternatives exist.

We have the ingenuity and compassion.

Time expired.

You have to summarize because we've got to move on.

Thank you, ma'am.

I just wanted to thank you for your time today.

And that's it.

Thank you so very much.

You're very welcome.

Thank you.

Next is Jennifer Garrett.

You may begin.