New York Carriage Driver Charged with Animal Cruelty Goes to Trial Over Horses’ Collapse

A carriage driver went on trial Tuesday over a horse’s collapse on a Manhattan street, in a criminal case that encapsulates years of modern-day strife over an old-timey tourist attraction.

Prosecutors say Ian McKeever relentlessly kept driving the horse, Ryder, on an 84-degree (29-degree Celsius) day in August 2022, despite signs that the animal was struggling to pull the carriage before he went down en route back to his barn.

“The defendant chose to press on, business as usual, and overwork Ryder,” prosecutor Taylor Maurer told jurors in her opening statement. The horse survived the fall but was euthanized some months later because of health problems.

Read more at AP News