NYCLASS

05/19/2026

🚨 URGENT: Another violent and entirely foreseeable horse carriage crash unfolded in Midtown yesterday, leaving a driver injured after a terrified horse spooked and flipped a carriage onto its side.

We still do not know the condition of the traumatized horse.

Please go to the link in our bio right now to contact and politely urge them to immediately reintroduce & fast-track Ryder’s Law before more people or horses are seriously injured or killed.

“This has happened so many times, carriage drivers have been injured and nearly killed, passengers have been injured and nearly killed,” Edita Birnkrant told the New York Post.

⬇️ Ryder’s Law would:
• Phase out the dangerous horse carriage industry
• Move horses to safety at sanctuaries and rescue farms
• Transition workers to safer modern jobs with benefits

New Yorkers have had enough of this. It’s the Year of the Horse - let’s pass !

05/19/2026

🚨URGENT: Another violent and entirely foreseeable horse carriage crash unfolded in Midtown yesterday, leaving a driver injured after a horse spooked and flipped a carriage over. We still do not know the condition of the horse.

Please take one minute to contact the New York City Council and Speaker Julie Menin and politely urge them to reintroduce and pass Ryder's Law to end this.
➡️Take action here: https://nyclass.org/stophorseabuse/

Full New York Post article link in comments. ⬇️

“This has happened so many times, carriage drivers have been injured and nearly killed, passengers have been injured and nearly killed,” Edita Birnkrant said. New Yorkers have had enough of this."

NYCLASS urged Big Apple lawmakers to consider passing Ryder’s Law to phase out horse carriages — a nod to a carriage horse named Ryder who tragically collapsed while working on a hot August day in 2022.

05/07/2026

05/06/2026

URGENT: NO ON “SAVE OUR BACON”
Stop the "Save Our Bacon" Act: Defend Prop 12 Today!
CALL NOW: (202) 224-3121
In a devastating blow to animal welfare, the U.S. House has passed the 2026 Farm Bill, including the chillingly named “Save Our Bacon” Act. This is a cynical "Big Meat" power grab designed to strip away the historic protections of California’s Proposition 12.

CALL ALL US SENATORS NOW: Since this impacts California’s Prop 12 we should call ALL the senators we can in every state and insist they vote NO on Save Our Bacon - aka SOB within the Farm Bill.

CALL THE CAPITOL SWITCHBOARD AND ASK FOR YOUR SENATOR AND WHATEVER OTHER SENATORS YOU CHOOSE. CALL REPEATEDLY.
CALL NOW: (202) 224-3121

Proposition 12 was a victory for the voiceless, overwhelmingly approved by voters to ban the sadistic use of gestation crates—metal cages so small that mother pigs can never even turn around. Under this industrial cruelty, these sentient beings are driven to madness, biting at bars in a futile escape from a living nightmare. Now, industrial agriculture wants to nullify the will of the people and force this misery back into our markets.
The U.S. Senate is now the final line of defense. We cannot allow federal overreach to codify cruelty.

� TAKE ACTION NOW
We need every animal lover to work the phones. Your voice is the only thing standing between these animals and a lifetime of confinement.
Call U.S. Senators: Demand they defeat the "Save Our Bacon" Act in the Farm Bill.
The SCRIPT: "I am a taxpayer and voter, and I urge you to vote NO on the Save Our Bacon Act. Do not overturn state-level animal welfare laws or allow the return of extreme confinement.”

MORE EVENTS: New York Town Hall is Thursday, May 7 7–8 PM Eastern Time Link to RSVP:https://bit.ly/4tRyczw (https://bit.ly/4tRyczw)

Minnesota and Georgia Town Hall is Tuesday, May 12, 7-8 PM EST, link to RSVP:https://tinyurl.com/mrx6snbx

Don't wait. The lives of millions of animals depend on your call. Say NO to industrial sa**sm.

05/01/2026

🐴 78% of polled New Yorkers support ending horse carriages.

And when tourists see it up close, they feel it too.

💔The fear. The exhaustion. Horses forced into traffic, collapsing or dying on pavement, used until they’re broken and discarded.

Horses deserve better.

This is not a “NYC experience.” It’s cruelty.

Don’t be part of the trap.

🔗➡️ Go to the link in our bio and tell the NYC Council to reintroduce and pass Ryder’s Law this year so these horses can finally live free.

04/30/2026

WATCH ANIMAL RIGHTS HISTORY! SHARE OUT! COMMENT!
A New Dawn for the Ridglan Beagles
For years, Ridglan Farms in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin has been ground zero in the battle to stop the breeding of beagles for painful experimentation. Now, that narrative has shifted in a historic victory for animal welfare. In a monumental breakthrough in the "Ridglan Beagle Saga," an agreement has reportedly been reached to transfer about 1,000 beagles from the breeding facility into the compassionate hands of rescuers. This extraordinary news broke without many details which we will hopefully get NOW as a news conference begins in Madison, Wisconsin.
This extraordinary deal follows a period of extreme tension and physical confrontation. On April 18th, the saga reached a fever pitch when approximately 1,000 animal activists surged toward the facility in a dramatic rescue attempt. The demonstration turned volatile as authorities deployed tear gas and rubber bullets to repel the animal lovers. The encounter left numerous would-be rescuers injured and led to multiple arrests, underscoring the desperate urgency felt by the animal advocacy community.
Now, that desperation has turned into a diplomatic triumph. Big Dog Ranch Rescue and the Center for a Humane Economy have reportedly successfully negotiated a confidential agreement to secure the release of many of the dogs. Exactly how many? We should learn that now. This development marks a definitive turning point for animal rights in general and animal experimentation in particular as activists said they were spurred to do their own rescue after authorities failed to act despite whistleblower testimony that beagles had been subjected to painful surgical procedures without anesthesia by non-veterinarians.
Leading the news conference:
• Lauree Simmons, president and founder, Big Dog Ranch Rescue
Wayne Pacelle, president, the Center for a Humane Economy and Animal Wellness Action
The Road to Recovery:
Scale: An estimated 1,000 beagles are being liberated from the Dane County facility, although we should get specific numbers now.
Mission: Big Dog Ranch Rescue will provide immediate medical exams, vaccinations, and rehabilitation.
Placement: A nationwide network of rescue partners will help place these dogs in permanent, loving homes.
The press conference in Madison will provide the first full look at the logistics of this massive rescue operation. After the chaos and injury of recent weeks, this announcement offers hope of a peaceful resolution. Ridglan denies the cruelty allegations and is invited on any time.

04/30/2026

🚨BREAKING: A Central Park pedicab driver is speaking out against horse carriages.

Tiffany Thomas, a New Yorker from Brooklyn now living in Harlem, works alongside the carriage trade and sees the cruelty up close.

🐴 Tiffany is calling on Speaker Julie Menin and the City Council to reintroduce and pass Ryder’s Law so these horses can be freed from suffering and danger.

Horses are meant to run free, but in the chaos of New York City, that instinct turns into deadly danger.

It’s time to protect public safety and end this cruelty.

➡️🔗Go to this link to contact the NYC Council and ask them to support to phase out horse carriages and rehome the horses to waiting rescue homes where they can finally safely run free: https://nyclass.org/stophorseabuse/

🎉Ryder’s law is also a win-win for people: carriage drivers will be offered higher paying safer jobs with real benefits and worker protections, and Midtown Manhattan will be safer for everyone.

04/29/2026

WATCH, COMMENT, SHARE OUT!
Buckle up. You are about to witness the cinematic evolution of a movement.
Welcome to a high-octane episode of UnchainedTV, where we prove that the camera is the most powerful weapon we have in the fight for animal liberation. Today, we aren’t just talking about change; we are projecting it onto the screen. The animal rights movement is leaping forward, fueled by a new wave of visionary filmmakers who are shattering glass ceilings and breaking hearts to open minds.
In this special showcase, we dive into four groundbreaking new films that span the entire emotional spectrum:
The Hard Truths: We go behind the curtain of digital exploitation with Nina Jackel (Lady Freethinker) to discuss the chilling exposé Cruelty for Clicks. Then, Michael Torres from In Defense of Animals joins us to pull back the rug on the shadowy puppy mill industry with Dog$piracy.
The Avant-Garde: Prepare to have your perspective shifted by filmmaker Dustin Todd, whose surreal masterpiece Not an Ad blurs the line between fantasy and our harrowing reality.
The Game-Changer: Finally, we prove that activism can be riotous. Filmmaker David Giardina brings the laughs with Mystery on the Vegan Express, a breakthrough comedy unlike anything you’ve ever seen.
From undercover grit to satirical wit, these creators are redefining the "cruelty-free lifestyle." Now, UnchainedTV’s Jane Velez-Mitchell and our fabulous panel unpacks the impact of these extraordinary new films.

04/27/2026

The Day of Judgment: Stopping Big Pork’s "Save Our Bacon Act"
The day of judgment has arrived. This week, the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on the "Save Our Bacon Act"—the pork industry’s latest and most desperate attempt to destroy state-level animal protection laws. Tucked into the "skinny farm bill," this legislation is a direct assault on mercy, state sovereignty, and the basic decency of our food system.
TAKE ACTION IMMEDIATELY: CALL YOUR CONGRESSPERSON
Call 202 224-3121 - This Congressional Switchboard will connect you with your congressperson. If you don’t know who it is, they will ask you for your zip code and still connect you with him or her. CALL NOW! Say SUPPORT THE LUNA AMENDMENT!
The Torture Behind the Bill
The primary target of this bill is California’s Proposition 12, a landmark law that effectively banned the use of gestation crates. To understand the stakes of this vote, one must understand the horror of the crate: a metal cage so small that a mother pig cannot even turn around, stretch her limbs, or scratch herself for nearly her entire life.
Pigs are sentient, social, and highly intelligent beings—often considered more intelligent than dogs. Under the psychological torture of being pinned in a space the size of their own bodies, these animals go mad. They exhibit heartbreaking signs of distress, such as incessantly chomping on metal bars until their mouths bleed. This is not "farming"; it is extreme, systematic cruelty.
A War on Animals and the Environment
Beyond the physical torture of animals, the intensive confinement model pushed by "Big Pork" is a disaster for our planet. These industrial operations consume massive amounts of water and are leading drivers of land degradation and water pollution.
The "Save Our Bacon Act" (the current vehicle for the disastrous Food Security and Farm Protection Act) seeks to reward this destructive, regressive industry by stripping away the rights of states to demand better. If passed, it could ultimately nullify Prop 12 and jeopardize over a thousand other state laws governing everything from environmental protection to child labor.
The Final Stand: Support the Luna Amendment
We have a chance to stop this nightmare. As this bill comes to the House floor, our primary defense is the Luna Amendment. This amendment is designed to thwart Big Pork’s attempts to undo state protections. It acts as a shield for the animals, ensuring that federal overreach cannot force cruelty back into states that have explicitly voted against it.
TAKE ACTION IMMEDIATELY: CALL YOUR CONGRESSPERSON
Call 202 224-3121 - This Congressional Switchboard will connect you with your congressperson. If you don’t know who it is, they will ask you for your zip code and still connect you with him or her. CALL NOW!
The vote is happening THIS WEEK. This is the moment to send a pointed message that the American people will not tolerate intensive confinement or federal overreach at the behest of lobbyists.
Call your U.S. Representative NOW: Tell them the "Save Our Bacon Act" is an act of cruelty and a violation of states' rights.
Demand a "NO" vote on the Save Our Bacon Act in the Skinny Farm Bill.
Urge them to support the Luna Amendment: This is the only way to preserve the progress we have made for animal welfare and public health.
Now, UnchainedTV’s Jane Velez-Mitchell gets the latest from Matthew Dominguez, the U.S. Director for Compassion in World Farming.

04/26/2026