On a blistering August day in 2022, a tragic incident unfolded in New York City as Ryder, a 26-year-old horse, collapsed while pulling a carriage in Manhattan. The heartbreaking scene, under the scorching sun, sparked widespread outrage and led to a highly publicized trial against Ian McKeever, the carriage driver accused of animal cruelty. Despite public outrage, the jury acquitted McKeever of overworking Ryder, igniting a heated debate over New York City’s animal welfare laws.
Ryder had been working for over seven hours, mainly in Central Park, when the collapse occurred. McKeever’s defense argued that the incident was the result of the horse tripping while changing lanes rather than being overworked. After being examined by a veterinarian, it was determined that Ryder was malnourished and underweight and also had neurological issues that could have led to his collapse, along with the excessive heat that day. Despite these findings, Ryder was sadly euthanized just two months later, following a necropsy that revealed he had bone cancer.
The trial’s transparency was called into question, as the jury was not informed about crucial aspects of Ryder’s declining health, including discrepancies in his veterinary records that obscured his true age. This raises serious ethical concerns about the accountability of horse carriage operators and the effectiveness of current measures to safeguard these animals.
In response, animal rights activists are advocating for legislative reforms through the proposed Ryder’s Law. This legislation aims to strengthen protections for carriage horses by addressing gaps in the current system. The law seeks accountability and transparency within the industry in order to prevent similar tragedies like this from occurring in the future.
In a statement from NYCLASS: “This disappointing verdict shows just how broken, outdated, and ineffective New York’s animal cruelty laws are. Ryder was a 26-year-old, emaciated, cancer-stricken horse who collapsed from being overworked and later died — and that still wasn’t enough for a conviction.
“The charge of ‘overdriving’ is a vague, obsolete term from the 1800s with no clear meaning today. Jurors expressed confusion over it — and the judge refused to allow clarification of what it means in the modern world.
“Even worse, the jury never heard that Ryder’s owner and Ian’s brother, Colm McKeever, falsified vet records to hide Ryder’s true age. That deception was central — and it was kept from them. The entire horse-drawn carriage business — including the Transport Workers Union and its president John Samuelson — defended the cruelty. Their veterinarian testified for Ian McKeever.
“Tragically, the jury was never informed that Camilo Sierra, the industry veterinarian, gave statements to the media in 2022 after examining Ryder following his collapse, stating that he believed Ryder should never have been working that day, and that he was weak, underweight, and in such poor condition that it wasn’t surprising that he collapsed. The prosecutors never brought this up, and the jury deserved to know.
“Speaker Adrienne Adams, Health Chair Lynn Schulman, and the City Council have blocked Ryder’s Law, knowing exactly what these horses endure. They’re protecting a cruel, corrupt business.
“Meanwhile, the Department of Health (DoH) continues to allow sick horses like Ryder to be worked to the point of collapse and death. It’s important to point out that Ryder had a completely clean bill of health that was submitted and accepted by the Department of Health. Clearly, an elderly horse with a falsified age, riddled with cancer and severely underweight, should never have been cleared to work in the first place by the DoH. That is the fault of city agencies, the Mayor, and the City Council, who are asleep at the wheel and allow an abusive industry to self-regulate to the point where sick horses collapse on the street and die.
“We need a hearing. We need to pass Ryder’s Law. And we need to shut this down before another horse is worked to death. We thank District Attorney Alvin Bragg for taking this case to trial—something no prosecutor has ever done before. But justice will only come when this cruelty ends for good.”
