When you work for PETA, it's hard to ever really go on vacation. That's because everywhere you go, you are bound to encounter people doing not-so-nice things to animals. Take my recent trip to Egypt. Skinny stray cats and dogs were hanging around outside all the hotels and restaurants, camels were living in squalor outside the pyramids for the sake of a photo opportunity, and the streets at all the big tourist spots were thick with horse-drawn carriages. I took these photos in Luxor, home to the famous Karnak temple and the Valley of the Kings and therefore overrun with sightseers. The carriages were lined up for a whole city block, waiting to draw in gullible tourists:

Many of the horses are hobbled when they aren't working. This one was hobbled so tightly that he couldn't move even an inch in any direction:

Notice the sores on the horse's knees. I saw many horses with such sores. I saw no indication that working horses were ever provided water or shade. The cracks of the drivers' whips could be heard blocks away.

These people are in business strictly to cater to tourists, who ignorantly think horse-drawn carriage rides are "romantic." Somehow, I miss the "romance" in staring at the rump of a tired and dejected horse.

Fortunately, the good folks of Rome (the birthplace of romance) agree. Rome's city council recently restricted the use of horse-drawn carriages to city parks, allowing them on city streets only on weekends. During the week, carriage operators will instead ferry tourists around in vintage-looking electric cars, (similar to the cars that New York City is currently thinking of employing). The move came in response to the death of Birillo, a horse who broke his leg after being hit by a truck and who lay on the street in agony for four hours before being euthanized.

In honor of Birillo and all his toiling brethren, give a carriage driver a piece of your mind and give the horse an apple (carry some with you for the purpose) instead of spending your hard-earned coin the next time you're on vacation.

Posted by Joel Bartlett

gothamist / CC

The good folks at the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages (CBHDC) teamed up with PETA members to hold a protest outside New York City's Central Park on Valentine's Day. They witnessed several disturbing incidents that illustrate a culture of inaction by ASPCA officers charged with monitoring the carriage industry and enforcing regulations. Read and weep:

CBHDC President Elizabeth Forel reports that one of the roads coming out of the park had a large pothole and that the drivers repeatedly drove their carriages over it. Elizabeth believes that ASPCA officers were within their power to bar the carriages from using the road, but, after numerous complaints, the only action that was taken was to put an orange traffic cone in the pothole.

Carriage drivers were so busy hurling abuse at the protesters and trying to videotape them that they came perilously close to becoming involved in serious accidents. According to witnesses, one driver drove his horse right into the traffic cone, which nearly caused the frightened animal to bolt. Shockingly, when protesters brought this incident to the attention of an ASPCA officer, he blamed the horse and refused to cite the driver.

Another driver was talking on his cell phone and almost ran into the cone. At the last minute, one of the ASPCA officers touched the horse's face in an attempt to divert him from the pothole (the horses wear blinders and can only see what's directly in front of them). This startled the horse, who veered sharply into the path of a car, which some witnesses believe may have struck the animal.

A veterinarian who attended the protest reported seeing areas on horses' skin rubbed raw by their harnesses. One lame horse mysteriously "disappeared" after protesters brought the matter to officers' attention.

Drivers repeatedly—one might even say routinely—ran red lights, but, again, the ASPCA officers did nothing. In fact, Elizabeth reports that the officers seemed more concerned with whether or not she had a permit for her protest (she didn't need one and they knew it) than they were with doing their jobs.

"The drivers do not take the ASPCA officers seriously," says Elizabeth. "If they did, they would show more respect for the law and would do as told. … They act with impunity—like they know they will not get a ticket no matter what."

Please click here to read more about the cruelty of the horse-drawn carriage industry and what you can do to help.

Posted by Alisa Mullins

Liam Neeson's appearance on The Daily Show last night has PETA wondering if one of his horses might have kicked him in the head. What else could explain his bizarre opinions about New York City's carriage horses and what wonderful lives he thinks they have?

"Have you been in these stables?" he asked. "I would move in tomorrow. Seriously." The man has his choice of at least two posh homes—an enormous condo in Manhattan and a sprawling 6,000-square-foot estate in upstate New York—but apparently he would just as soon live here:

Horses who are forced to pull carriages endure terrible living conditions like these. Sounds like home sweet home to Neeson, though!

Liam's posh 6,000 square foot estate that he would apparently prefer to give up to live in the stables

It gets better. When Jon Stewart questioned whether the horses would prefer to be free, Liam said, "Everyone thinks cows in the fields would rather be running wild … that's bullsh** … horses don't either."

Oh, Liam, maybe you're right, let me ponder this for a moment … It does seem like horses would prefer to endure the freezing cold and the panicky booms, noisy traffic, and exhaust fumes of the city over living in a lush pasture. And you're right, they probably much prefer the whips, shouting, heavy gear, traces, and lack of water in the troughs as well as the long shifts trudging for hours and pulling strangers in a half-mile circle all day without rest over living a natural life. Makes sense, right?

Jon stood firm, though, and came to the support of horses, adding, "I don't think living on 52nd and 11th is a holiday for a horse."

Well put.

Posted by Christine Doré

Last Friday, a New York City "carriage horse" slipped on the ice and fell into a split on 59th Street. Big surprise!

Filmmaker Donny Moss asked the following to the ASPCA—which is charged with enforcing the anti-cruelty code and regulations on horse-drawn carriages:

"Why did the ASPCA allow the carriage drivers to leave the stables this morning when everyone in the City knew that a major winter storm was about to blanket NYC with snow and ice?

"At about 9:00 a.m., the agent who answered your ASPCA hotline told me that the drivers would be sent in when the weather turned. As you know, the long trip back to the "stables" through midtown during a wet and icy winter storm is treacherous. The horses should never have left this morning. But they did, and I videotaped it so that people can see the cruelty taking place on your watch.

"At 11:50 a.m. during the height of the storm, I saw the ASPCA Humane Law Enforcement officer greeting carriage drivers with handshakes and high fives. Shouldn't he have been reprimanding them for continuing to pick up passengers almost two hours into the storm?

"In spite of the best efforts of many activists, conditions for the carriage horses are worse now than they've ever been before. Because the ASPCA has been entrusted with protecting these animals, you have a duty to at the very least minimize the abuse and publicly call for a ban. Until you do, the ASPCA isn't preventing cruelty to animals. You are enabling it."

Well said, Mr. Moss. The New York horse-drawn carriage industry is an exploitive disgrace and a shame on the city, but the ASPCA could do something. It could take its enforcement role seriously and be pro-active—get out there when a storm is expected and advise drivers that anyone working a horse when it hits will be cited. The warning should come before the storm, not during it.

Oh, and while we're at it, remember the horses trying to drink from the empty troughs? That's a violation, too, as is going out without blankets in the cold. And we believe that it's a violation of the anti-cruelty code when horses are unable to lie down at night and get the weight off their feet, because it causes the horses to suffer needlessly.

Posted by Joel Bartlett

fund4horses / CC

Every visit to New York City causes me to reflect upon the misery that befalls those poor old racetrack castoffs, Amish cart-pullers, and other worn-down horses who end up between the shafts of a heavy carriage, pulling loads of tourists—and some uncaring driver—through the dirty, noisy streets of New York City in all weather. Seeing them out there in the winter is particularly upsetting: A few weeks back, I saw one horse still lumbering along in traffic, head down, at 9:30 p.m.

Even when they aren't working, horses need lots of water, yet the "carriage" horses' water troughs are often bone dry. People report seeing the horses standing there, unbending in their traces and unseeing in their blinders, unable to take a drop of water. And, when, late at night, they finally end up at their "stables"—which are actually decrepit fire-trap walk-ups—they cannot even take their weight off their aching feet: The "stalls" are boxes or bars that fit just around their bodies, like sow stalls on factory farms.

Oh, there's so much more that stinks for these poor horses, including the traffic accidents that spook, hurt, and kill them. (I've seen a driver, obviously anxious to go home to his comfortable house, whip and race his horse, chariot-style, pounding along the road; this must have added to the horse's pain.) PETA and local concerned citizens are working hard to make this business go away. We want to see it switch to something humane—perhaps to a new, environmentally friendly tourist vehicle that doesn't bleed, ache, and die. It may take another year of hard work, but what can we do in the meantime, other than tell people never to ride in the carriages?

Perhaps you'd like to contact the ASPCA—which is charged with enforcing the anti-cruelty code and regulations on horse-drawn carriages—with your thoughts and questions. Please share with us the answers you receive. The horses can't ask why someone doesn't order their owners to allow them to lie down at night, for example, but we can. And, in my opinion, local law enforcement can compel the owners to let them.

Posted by Ingrid Newkirk