New York driver charged with animal cruelty in horse collapse
A New York City horse-drawn carriage driver was charged Wednesday with animal cruelty in a case stemming from the collapse of a weak horse on a busy Hell’s Kitchen street in August 2022.
The driver, Ian McKeever, was accused of overdriving, torturing and injuring animals and failing to properly maintain the horse, Ryder, according to a criminal complaint.
“Ryder should not have been working on this hot summer day,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg said in a statement. “Despite his condition, he was out of the boat for hours and worked until he collapsed.”
Mr. McKeever, a 55-year-old Long Island resident, appears to be the first New York carriage driver to be charged with animal cruelty since 2013. He pleaded not guilty during an arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court and faces up to a year in prison. prison if convicted. His attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
The horse-drawn carriage trade in New York – a remnant of old-world charm for some and a form of animal cruelty for others – is politically controversial, and the episode involving Ryder quickly became a flashpoint in the ongoing debate over whether horses should do work.
As detailed in the complaint and seen in bystander videos shared widely online, Ryder collapsed on Ninth Avenue near West 45th Street on August 10, 2022, around 5 p.m., while returning to his stable on West 28th Street.
It was 84 degrees Fahrenheit at the time, the complaint said.
Video footage showed Mr McKeever shouting at the still-rigged horse as he tried to get him back on his feet by hitting his hindquarters and pulling on his reins. Mr. McKeever also used a whip on Ryder, the complaint said, citing a witness.
Other footage showed police officers hosing down Ryder trying to cool him down as a crowd of concerned onlookers gathered and rush hour traffic continued to follow behind him.
After about 45 minutes, the complaint said, officers were able to get Ryder to his feet, into a horse trailer and back to the stable.
Mr. McKeever told an officer at the scene that Ryder was a 13-year-old standard carriage horse and had been working in Central Park since 9:30 that morning.
But a forensic veterinarian later estimated that Ryder was 26, not 13, and “should not have been working due to his advanced age and unhealthy, underweight condition,” according to the complaint.
The vet also said tests showed Ryder, who was euthanized after being moved to an upstate farm in the aftermath of the collapse, had a form of cancer.
Following the episode, the city’s health department fined Mr. McKeever’s brother, Colm McKeever, who owned Ryder, $2,000 for providing false information about the horse’s age on licensing documents.
Edita Birnkrant, executive director of NYCLASS, an animal advocacy group that has pushed for the end of the horse-drawn carriage trade, praised Mr. Bragg for pursuing the cause.
“We commend the Manhattan District Attorney for filing charges against Ian McKeever for his criminal abuse of Ryder,” Ms. Birnkrant said in a statement.
“But,” she continued, “these accusations are not enough to end the suffering of so many other horses.”
Christina Hansen, a carriage driver and industry spokeswoman, said she was “surprised” that the episode involving Ryder had led to a criminal case, especially after so much time had passed.
Ms Hansen declined to comment on the charges against Mr McKeever, but she acknowledged Ryder should not have been working at the time he collapsed, based on the forensic vet’s assessment of the horse’s age and poor health.
Still, she added, what happened in Ryder’s case did not reflect the typical circumstances of the roughly 200 horses that work in Central Park, which offer rides at a price of $63.70 for the first 20 minutes and $ 25.48 for every additional 10 minutes.
“It’s the exception that proves the rule,” she says.