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Melissa Gilbert called out New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams this week over a proposed law that would phase out horse-drawn carriages in Central Park next year, accusing her of being “cruel, corrupt, and undemocratic.”
The “Little House on the Prairie” alum directed an Instagram video at Adams, who she said was “single-handedly blocking Ryder’s Law — even going so far as to block a hearing on it. That is unacceptably cruel, corrupt, and undemocratic.”
“The people of New York have a right to a hearing,” the 61-year-old actress said in the video. “We already know that a super-majority of New Yorkers support Ryder’s Law, as does the Central Park Conservancy. Meanwhile, horses continue to collapse and drop dead. They’re even running wild and injuring people in the park.”
She added, “Speaker Adams, this insanity must stop. As a resident of New York, I demand you schedule a hearing immediately so that the people can vote on Ryder’s Law.”
‘LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE’ STAR’ MELISSA GILBERT SAYS BEING ‘RAGGEDY AND DIRTY’ LANDED HER ICONIC ROLE
Melissa Gilbert called out a New York City council member for being “cruel” in an impassioned Instagram video. (Valery Hache/AFP via Getty Images)
Ryder’s Law would end horse-drawn carriages in New York City by June 2026 and replace the horses with electric carriages. The horses would be prohibited from being sold for slaughter or for carriage business elsewhere.
Gilbert is hardly the only celebrity lending their support to Ryder’s Law, which was named after a horse who died in Manhattan in 2022 after collapsing in the August heat.
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Kathy Najimy, Marisa Tomei, Joaquin Phoenix, Billie Eilish and Christopher Walken have also expressed support for it.
In September, “The Sopranos” star Edie Falco wrote a letter to Adams, which was shared by PETA, imploring her to “stop blocking Ryder’s Law from moving forward” before another horse is “worked to death.”
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Melissa Gilbert pictured on “Little House on the Prairie” in 1975. (NBCU Photo Bank)
However, not everyone agrees that banning horse-drawn carriages is the right thing to do.
Alexus Lawson, a carriage driver in New York, told the West Side Rag this week, “If you truly cared about horses, you’re fighting the wrong fight.”
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A horse-drawn carriage is seen in Central Park in June 2024. (Luiz C. Ribeiro/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Lawson said she has worked with horses her whole life and loves them.
“We come here because we love being with ponies,” she said of the people who drive the carriages.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Gilbert and Adams for comment.
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