Lame NYC carriage horse snatched from auction, sent to retirement farm

This aging animal must have a lucky horseshoe.

A former Central Park carriage horse headed to the slaughterhouse has been saved, animal activists claim.

Bernard, thought to be at least 14 years old, was dumped at an infamous Pennsylvania livestock auction in February, but is now living the good life at an animal sanctuary in Dittmer, MO.

Julie Copper, whose organization, Copper Horse Crusade, saves and rehabilitates slaughter-bound horses, said she paid $1,400 for Bernard

“He’s a pleasant horse, an attractive horse . . .he stood out amongst the 60 others in the pen,” she recalled.

Recently, Edita Birnkrant, executive director of animal advocacy non-profit NYCLASS, which has long fought NYC’s carriage horse industry, was alerted to Copper’s Facebook post, which sought a permanent home for Bernard.

Birnkrant immediately realized Bernard was once a carriage horse, recognizing the faded, four-digit identification number etched into one of his hooves.

“The carriage horse industry was sending him to slaughter,” alleged Birnkrant. “They left this horse for dead — they threw him away because he couldn’t make them any more money. I’m so horrified.”

She contacted Copper, and the two worked together to find Bernard his new home at the Gentle Barn Sanctuary, where he’ll have other rescued carriage horses to herd with.

Birnkrant told The Post Pennsylvania’s auctions largely attract “killer buyers” from Mexico and Canada, where slaughtering equines is legal. Older, lame, and unfit horses are sold at these auctions by the pound — and their meat is sold in parts of Europe and Asia for human consumption.

“It’s a death sentence,” she said of the auctions. “They just wanna squeeze every last dollar out of these horses.”

Birnkrant said when carriage horses are retired, generally around age 27, they should be sent to horse sanctuaries to live out their last days.

Department of Health records show Bernard was previously owned by Atakan Aktay, the Rutherford, NJ operator of NYC Fancy Rides, and was used as a carriage horse between 2020 and 2023. The animal was stabled at Clinton Park Stables in Hell’s Kitchen.

Aktay told The Post he retired the horse last fall, but did not say why. He claimed he sent Bernard to an Amish farm in Lancaster, Pa. According to Aktay, the farmer must’ve brought the horse to the auctions.

Aktay was unable to name the farm or farmer.

Copper, who said veterinarians confirmed Bernard has lame legs, said horse carriage rep Christina Hansen drove to her Ohio home, and tried buying the horse back from her. Copper, who refused to sell, was told Bernard was “accidentally” sent to the auction.

“Sending a horse to an Amish farm is like sending it to the slaughter auctions through a third party,” Birnkrant claimed.

Alina Felicies, a spokeswoman for Transport Workers Union, Local 100, which represents carriage horse drivers and owners, said NYCLASS is “distorting the truth.”

“His owner decided to retire him, filing paperwork with the Health Department in November,” she said. “The owner put him up for sale at an auction with a reserve explicitly stating the horse should be sent to a private buyer and not for any other purpose.”

Felicies confirmed the union tried buying Bernard back. “We’re glad that Bernard apparently has found a stable home.”

“In addition, we have looked at property upstate and have had discussions about establishing our own retirement home for our beloved horses,” she said.

Additional reporting by Susan Edelman