pstrongFriends of Animals Decries Industry as ldquo;hell on earth for horses,rdquo; Renews Call for Ban/strong/ppimg alt=”horse carriage” src=”/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Horse_Carriage.jpg” style=”width: 400px; height: 267px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; float: right;” /Just blocks from Friends of Animalsrsquo; New York City office on Thursday, September 26supth/sup, at 10:30 am, another terrifying carriage horse accident occurred on the congested streets of Eight Avenue near 58supth/sup Street and Columbus Circle.nbsp; Edita Birnkrant, NY Director of Friends of Animals rushed to the scene of the accident, where a young carriage horse named Chris became frightened and ran out of control through traffic, slamming into a parked car and collapsing on the ground with the heavy carriage flipped over and pinning down his back legs as he kicked and thrashed in terror./ppHorrified onlookers screamed and ran; fearing for their life as the horse nearly ran onto the crowded sidewalk before collapsing. The driver of the carriage was unable to control the horse, and members of the public and Fire Department employees had to help cut the horse out of his reins in order to free him from the carriage. Witnesses saw the horsersquo;s leg bloodied, and the ASPCA Humane Law Enforcement Division confirmed to Friends of Animals that the horse suffered lacerations to his leg and was awaiting a veterinarian examination.nbsp; Media reports state that the driver, Frank Lou, has prior violations from the Department of Health including an accusation of illegally overcharging passengers just a day before the accident, and a charge of illegally working a horse for more than 12 hours./ppNY1 News was at the scene and interviewed Edita Birnkrant: a href=”http://www.ny1.com/content/news/189485/midtown-horse-carriage-accident-renews-calls-to-ban-buggies-from-city”Midtown Carriage Horse Accident Renews Call to Ban Buggies/a./pp style=”margin-left: 40px;”Friends of Animals Director Edita Birnkrant says this is another example of why the buggies should be banned. #39;There is no way to have horse drawn carriages in New York City to make it safe, to make it humane for the horses. This is hell on earth for horses. Midtown Manhattan traffic is no place for a horse,#39; Birnkrant said./ppstrongWHAT YOU CAN DO/strong/pp style=”margin-left: 40px;”Never take a horse-drawn carriage ride in New York City or anywhere, and tell your friend and family to boycott industries that exploit animals as ldquo;entertainment.rdquo; Take a human-powered pedicab ride instead if yoursquo;re visiting New York City and want a tour of Central Park. New Yorkers can contact their state and local officials and urge them to support the ban on New York Cityrsquo;s horse-drawn carriage industry./p