The NYPD is cracking down on horseplay.
As part of its takeover of ASPCA duties, cops will now be responsible for making sure carriage horses are treated humanely and within strict rules, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton wrote in a letter to state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Queens).
Brass are trying to figure out how officers will inspect stables and enforce weather rules banning carriage rides during extreme weather.
“The department is currently evaluating the possibility of conducting stable and hack-line inspections and enforcing extreme-weather restrictions,” Bratton wrote.
Sources said it will require a lot of manpower because the rules are complex. For one thing, someone has to check the temperature in the exact spot where hacks line up with their hansom cabs.
Then, if it’s deemed too cold, any drivers who already have customers on board are allowed to finish a trip.
After the route is completed, they have 30 another minutes to drive the horse and carriage back to the stables in Chelsea or Hell’s Kitchen.
“It’s not going to be easy to enforce,” the source added.
The ASPCA has begun training cops on how to enforce animal-abuse complaints.
The decision for the NYPD to take over enforcement may not last long if Mayor de Blasio keeps his campaign promise to ban horse carriages altogether.
Police took over animal-cruelty enforcement citywide from the ASPCA on Jan. 1, although it took more than a month for both agencies to fully acknowledge the handoff and for the NYPD to convey its action plan to rank-and-file cops.