21-07-2025
N.Y.C. Carriage Driver Cleared of Animal Cruelty After Horse's Death
One hot summer day in 2022, a horse named Ryder collapsed in Midtown Manhattan after a seven-hour workday pulling a carriage through Central Park.
Videos of Ryder lying on his side on Ninth Avenue, his ribs visible through his stomach as police officers coaxed him to get up, circulated on social media, eliciting alarm.
The fervor peaked two months later, when Ryder was euthanized: He was too unhealthy, veterinarians said, to maintain a good quality of life. The next year, the city charged his driver, Ian McKeever, with one count of overdriving, torturing and injuring animals.
This month, Mr. McKeever became the first carriage driver in the city to stand trial for animal cruelty. And on Monday, a jury cleared him, delivering a rebuke to animal-rights activists who saw Ryder's death as ammunition for their effort to eradicate New York's horse-drawn carriage industry, a mainstay of the city for more than 150 years.
Mr. McKeever, 57, had faced up to a year in prison if convicted. He let out a sob and put his head in his hands when the verdict was read.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
