Carriage-Drivers Union Mounts Up To Fend Off Animal-Rights Attack

The anniversary of the death of a the Central Park carriage horse last March 1 whose collapse on the job became a viral video reignited the  debate over the city should follow the lead of cities from Chicago to Paris and ban horse-drawn carriages, but the union representing the drivers countered with evidence that the fatality was not the result of mistreatment, as activists have contended.

Transport Workers Union Local 100 cited laboratory reports and a post-mortem exam done on behalf of the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to show the horse named Aysha "was well-cared for" but suffered from a muscular disease caused by a genetic disorder known as Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy which affects how animals convert food into energy and store it.