Lea Michele Campaigns Against New York Horse Drawn Carriages

Lea Michele the star of Glee is joining British comedian Ricky Gervais and actress Joanna Lumley in a rally against the use of horse-drawn carriages in New York, and she is calling on fans to boycott the city’s Central Park tradition.  Fronting a new advertisement that you can watch below for PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), highlighting the alleged neglect and harsh conditions in which the animals are kept.

In the commercial Lea details the life of a horse drawing a carriage in New York City she says, “Imagine for a moment that you’re forced to do hard physical labor all day, seven days a week, whether it’s sweltering hot or freezing cold outside. At the end of the day, instead of relaxing on an easy chair or sleeping in a comfortable bed, you’re locked in a tiny closet all night long.”  She includes that after a day of hauling heavy tourists around and breathing exhaust fumes, they must walk miles through dangerous traffic and climb steep ramps to reach the upper floors of a multi-story building.

If a fire were to break out the stables would be death traps.  Lea believes that the carriage industry deprives the horses of everything that makes their lives worth living.  She also campaigned for this same cause back when she starred on Spring Awakening on Broadway.  What do you think of horse drawn carriages?