Intentar ORO - Gratis
They kill horses, but the outcry is getting louder
The Observer
|August 03, 2025
The New York cruelty case has again raised the animal rights issue, writes Melanie Reid
Odds are, unless you're an animal activist, you won't have heard of Ryder.
The 26-year-old bay gelding pulled a tourist carriage in New York City until one hot August day in 2022, he fell on 9th Avenue. As police poured ice on his bony, prostrate body, passersby filmed his plight and Ryder became a symbol of the cultural fault line over animal welfare.
Did he trip or did he collapse from overwork? His owner, Ian McKeever, became the city's first carriage driver in 150 years to stand trial for animal cruelty. A few days ago, on 21 July, McKeever was cleared. Despite the thinness of the horse, and that McKeever had claimed Ryder was only 13, the jury was swayed by the horse having undiagnosed leukaemia. He was euthanised two months after his fall.
Esta historia es de la edición August 03, 2025 de The Observer.
Suscríbete a Magzter GOLD para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9000 revistas y periódicos.
¿Ya eres suscriptor? Iniciar sesión
MÁS HISTORIAS DE The Observer
The Observer
Clacton seat could be up for grabs after investigation into Farage’s £5m ‘unconditional gift’
The next British parliamentary byelection is, quite possibly, going to be in Clacton.
4 mins
June 28, 2026
The Observer
Fayed abuse survivors accuse Met police of ignoring trafficking claims
Women now identified as victims of modern slavery have complained about how the force handled cases against the former Harrods boss and his network
4 mins
June 28, 2026
The Observer
Meeting Greenspan was like an audience with the Wizard of Oz
For a young economics journalist, an interview with Alan Greenspan (officially, he never gave interviews) was like having an audience with God, or perhaps the Wizard of Oz.
1 mins
June 28, 2026
The Observer
Vagrancy Act of 1824 is finally repealed
Homelessness charities have hailed the repeal of the Vagrancy Act after 202 years as a “watershed”, “land-mark” and “defining” moment.
1 min
June 28, 2026
The Observer
Volkswagen workers fear bite of ‘Wolf of Wolfsburg’
If Volkswagen proceeds with its plan to shed as many as 100,000 jobs, it will not only underline how dire the outlook is for Germany’s car industry in the face of fierce Chinese competition but may also sound the death knell for the vaunted postwar German model of stakeholder capitalism.
1 min
June 28, 2026
The Observer
Myanmar demanded data from a Norwegian telecoms firm. Months later, an activist was dead
Telenor's sharing of private data with the military led to the arrest and deaths of pro-democracy resistance members, alleges a class-action lawsuit filed in Norway
11 mins
June 28, 2026
The Observer
'It'll get more intense and more frequent'
Last week’s weather will not be a one-off. Experts say it’s time to make infrastructure more resilient to climate change.
1 mins
June 28, 2026
The Observer
The Thames Water test will flush out Burnham’s approach to the economy
A tourist gets lost in the Irish countryside and asks a passing farmer for directions. “Well, if I was you,” the man responds, “I wouldn’t start from here.” So goes the old joke.
4 mins
June 28, 2026
The Observer
EasyJet adds to UK equities flight fears
The budget airline could soon become the latest British company to fly off the FTSE as foreign investors rush to snap up a bargain, reports Barney Macintyre
2 mins
June 28, 2026
The Observer
Lammy: ‘I’ve been loyal to every Labour PM. I’ll be loyal to the next’
When Keir Starmer made his tearful resignation speech outside No 10 last week, David Lammy was one of only a handful of cabinet ministers standing beside him. “Loyalty and trust and conviction are underrated values, but important values in politics,” he says.
3 mins
June 28, 2026
Listen
Translate
Change font size