Mia Nosumi (Voters for Animal Rights) testifies supporting ban
Mia Nosumi of Voters for Animal Rights testifies representing 100,000+ NYC voters, cites consistent polling showing two-thirds majority support for a ban, and lists decades of horse deaths from various causes.
Hi.
Good afternoon.
My name is Mia Nosumi, and I am the Policy and Advocacy Manager at Voters for Animal Rights.
We represent a community of over 100,000 New York City voters for whom animal protection is a top priority at the ballot box.
First, I want to thank Speaker Menon for not only scheduling this hearing, but being an advocate of this bill.
Councilmember Shulman, thank you for your leadership as chair of the Health Committee.
Councilmember Marte for...
Prime sponsoring Romantus Law, previously Ryder's Law.
Thank you as well to the Council's Animal Caucus, led by Councilmember Epstein, for standing behind this.
Across multiple polls, New York City voters have consistently supported a horse carriage ban by over a two-thirds majority, and voters are united because the pattern of suffering is undeniable.
As previously mentioned, in the 13 months before Ramanj Mahajan's tragic death on June 17th, and thank you to his family for their immense courage testifying.
Central Park saw eight separate horse-related incidents, but the casualties of this industry go back decades.
The first named carriage horse who died on the streets of New York City was a horse named Maggio in 1982.
Since then, dozens of horses have been killed by this industry by sheer exhaustion.
Traffic collisions, untreated sickness, getting electrocuted, malnourishment, poisonous plants.
The causes of death tell the story of the many ways in which horses simply do not belong in the middle of our bustling modern city.
This industry doesn't just fail horses.
It fails the people who work in it.
Which is why Voters for Animal Rights eagerly supports Mayor Mamdani's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection to transition these carriage drivers into safer, higher-paying jobs so these workers can not only survive but thrive.
The horses deserve better, and the carriage drivers also deserve better than gig work with no sick pay, retirement, or health benefits.
Each time in...
How many more horses and humans have to die by this industry before this council decides the cost is too high?
Thank you very much.
And Bill, right?