PETA Statement: Blockage of Horse-Drawn Carriage Ban Is Only Temporary

For Immediate Release:
November 14, 2025

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Today, at a City Council meeting attended by hundreds of constituents, New York City Council Health Committee members bowed to pressure from the horse-drawn carriage industry and killed Ryder’s Law, the city’s proposed horse-drawn carriage ban, without advancing it to the council floor for a full vote. Although Councilmember Robert Holden made a motion for a public hearing, the Committee violated procedural rules by refusing his motion.

Please find a statement from PETA Director Ashley Byrne in response:

More than 75% of New Yorkers want horse-drawn carriages off city streets, so the carriage industry is resorting to dirty tricks to prop up this dying trade and keep exhausted horses pounding the pavement through sweltering summers and windy winters. PETA is confident that with compassionate councilmembers already committed to reintroducing this bill next term, the question isn’t if New York will ban horse-drawn carriages, it’s when.

Ryder’s Law was named after a horse who collapsed on New York City streets and later died. The proposal came after video footage of Ryder lying on Ninth Avenue went viral, and reports that his driver slapped him, whipped him, and screamed at him to get up sparked outrage.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.