Singer/actress Kristin Chenoweth has thrown her support behind her Glee co-star Lea Michele's ongoing campaign to outlaw New York's iconic horse-drawn carriage rides amid allegations of animal cruelty.
The Broadway star was horrified to witness the tourist trots around the Big Apple's famed Central Park during a stroll past the exhausted horses on Wednesday (14Mar12) and she took to her Twitter.com blog to enquire about what she could do to help put a stop to the practice.
In a series of tweets, she wrote, "What can do about gettin (sic) the horse carriages stopped in Central Park. Just walked by. The horses are Miserable. The horses take 'rests' on each Foot. Who controls this? I call abuse."
Her concerned posts were spotted by a representative for the New Yorkers for Clean, Livable & Safe Streets (Nyclass) and they immediately reached out to Chenoweth to encourage her to sign a petition urging Mayor Michael Bloomberg to replace the horse carriages with classic cars, an initiative led by Michele.
The Nyclass activist also suggested Chenoweth add her name to a letter written by fellow actress Anjelica Huston to Christine Quinn, the speaker of the New York City Council, to push for a ban on horse carriages.
In response to the advice, Chenoweth wrote, "I will do today. I will write that letter."
Michele has been a vocal supporter of a People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals campaign to outlaw the horse-drawn carriages and has even threatened to leave her native New York if Mayor Bloomberg fails to act.