Animal-rights activists protested Thursday at the site of an accident that left a carriage horse sprawled on a sidewalk near Central Park.
“Yesterday, eyewitnesses reported that a bus drove very close to a carriage, spooking the horse,” said Ashley Byrne of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
“After the horse bucked and started to run, the carriage tipped over onto the curb, pinning the horse down.”
“This is more tragic evidence of why it’s time to take these dangerous, cruel carriages off the streets of New York City,” she added.
Allie Feldman of the anti-carriage group NYCLASS said: “We’re lucky nobody was injured or killed.”
“We do know that this industry treats these animals like a commodity,” Feldman said.
“They treat them like a money-making machine.”
In a statement, a carriage-industry group disputed the activists’ version of events, saying there wasn’t a bus anywhere near the horse — a 15-year-old black gelding named “Spartacus” — before he fell about 4:20 p.m. at the corner of Central Park South and 59th Street.
Historic Horse-Drawn Carriages of Central Park said another carriage horse that was “parked” behind Spartacus “unexpectedly pulled out” and a back wheel of its carriage snagged a back wheel of Spartacus’ carriage.
The collision toppled Spartacus’ carriage, causing him to lose his footing and fall down.
“Spartacus behaved like a gentleman — having found himself suddenly in his predicament — and remained calm as we got him free of the harness and carriage,” said driver and group spokeswoman Christina Hansen.
“He had been waiting quietly for a ride when the other carriage hit his. He did not spook. He did not collapse.”
Spartacus’ owner, carriage driver Tony Salerno, said his horse got a clean bill of health after the mishap.
“The vet came over here and checked him. He doesn’t even have a little scratch,” Salerno said.