{"id":17338,"date":"2014-07-15T03:07:12","date_gmt":"2014-07-15T03:07:12","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2014-07-15T03:07:12","modified_gmt":"2014-07-15T03:07:12","slug":"Horse-industry-honcho-drove-carriage-during-heat-suspension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asiancemagazine.com\/?p=17338","title":{"rendered":"Horse industry honcho drove carriage during heat suspension"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ignorance of the Law Is No Excuse<\/strong><\/p>\n

The face behind New York City\u2019s controversial horse carriage industry was caught on camera Wednesday giving passengers a ride in the searing heat in apparent violation of the law.<\/p>\n

Spokeswoman Christina Hansen began and ended a tour with passengers after the city officially suspended drivers from operating because of the heat.<\/p>\n

A video posted on YouTube shows Hansen in Central Park collecting money from passengers after they stepped off her carriage yesterday afternoon nearly 90 minutes after the suspension went into effect.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know why she thinks she\u2019s above the law,\u201d said Allie Feldman, executive director of NYCLASS, a non-profit animal rights group, who took the video with her smartphone.<\/p>\n

Feldman said there were no other drivers around at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt shows the lawlessness of this industry. They have no regard for doing the right thing for these animals. What kind of person would do that to an animal?\u201d<\/p>\n

Under city law, drivers are required to suspend operation and return horses to their stables when the temperature reaches 90 degrees, as it did Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n

The suspension ruling was issued at 12:37 p.m. The video is time-stamped at 1:54.<\/p>\n

Hansen said she had not seen the video, but did not deny being its subject.<\/p>\n

The driver said she picked up several passengers shortly before 1 p.m. for an hour-long drive, but did not realize the suspension had gone into effect.<\/p>\n

She said there were other drivers operating at the time.<\/p>\n

She said a mounted police officer who would have been responsible for enforcing the ban said nothing to her about the suspension.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believed myself to be in compliance with the law,\u201d Hansen said. \u201cI never received notice of suspension from the police officer or anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hansen said she walked the horse, an 8-year-old steed named Sara, to her stable when the trip was over.<\/p>\n