NEW YORK, March 9, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Teamster officials and Teamster horse carriage drivers thanked actor Liam Neeson for escorting City Councilmembers on a tour of the Clinton Park Horse Stables Sunday afternoon.

Councilmembers were invited to ask questions about the care and treatment of the animals and saw firsthand how well the horses live.

Neeson, a horse lover who supports the horse carriage drivers, offered to show City Councilmembers for themselves how well the horses are treated.

"Horse-carriages are iconic symbols of New York representing the beauty and charm of the city as well as the opportunity they provide for working-class people like me," said Colm McKeever, horse carriage driver and member of Teamster Local 553.

Teamsters Joint Council 16 President George Miranda thanked Neeson for his support of the men and women who drive horse carriages.

"Horse carriage drivers treat horses humanely and respectfully. Each horse is given five weeks' rest every year, gets exceptional medical attention and benefits and is cared for by experienced professionals," said Miranda, "By destroying the horse-carriage industry, the city would be killing good jobs and leaving 400 hard-working taxpayers and their families out in the cold."

Demos Demopoulos, secretary-treasurer of Local 553, which represents the horse-carriage drivers, also thanked Neeson.

"Horse-carriage drivers are hard-working taxpayers who rely on this industry to help support their families and invest in their local neighborhoods," Demopoulos said.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, founded in 1903, represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

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SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters

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