In the News: ‘Georgina Bloomberg at odds with mayor dad over famed horse carriages in NYC’

Mayor Bloomberg defends the carriages but his showjumping daughter says it’s time for them to go.

From a story in yesterday’s New York Daily News:

A prominent animal rights group that’s frequently at odds with City Hall had nothing but praise for Bloomberg on Monday — Georgina, that is, not Michael.

Advocates lauded the mayor’s daughter for speaking out on the poor conditions in the city’s horse-drawn carriage industry — a position that puts her at odds with her famous father.

Mayor Bloomberg has defended the old-fashioned carriages, which are loathed by animal rights groups but popular with tourists and a staple in Central Park.

Georgina, age 30 (and 3 1/2 months pregnant!), said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, “Obviously, for me, my heart is always with the horses and I always want them to be kept in the best condition possible, which I don’t believe they are.”

Georgina on a horse in Times Square to promote Dover Saddlery’s listing on the Nasdaq. Photo: NY Daily Times

She has also criticized Animal Care & Control, a nonprofit group commissioned by the Bloomberg administration to run the city’s animal shelter system. “Government doesn’t care about animals,” she told The Wall Street Journal. She said that city animal shelters aren’t “a place where people want to go to adopt animals, which, to me, is a failure.”

Georgina isn’t the first person who has used their celebrity to further an animal rights agenda. Here is a video featuring Lea Michele, star of the hit TV series Glee, speaking out on the NYC carriage horse issue.

What do you think, Horse Nation? Should horse-drawn carriages be banned from New York City?