New York City-born Lea Michele is hoping her new-found ‘Glee’ fame will help bring an end to one thing she hates about the city that never sleeps: horse-drawn carriages. The television actress has teamed up with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) to create a campaign to end the practice, Popeater.com is reporting.

The campaign features Michele in posters and videos with a tagline that reads “Help put horse-drawn carriages out to pasture.” In the video, the actress focuses on the poor conditions the horses endure in the facilities where they’re kept when they’re not working. “Imagine for a moment that you’re forced to do hard physical labor all day, seven days a week-whether it’s sweltering hot or freezing cold outside. At the end of the day…you are locked in a tiny closet all night long,” she said.

Michele is also upset that the horses are forced to breathe exhaust fumes all day as they carry numerous people through miles of city traffic. Her pleas come after the New York comptroller’s office discovered in 2007 that the Health Department wasn’t properly checking health hazards pertaining to the horses. The city council passed a bill last year to improve the horse’s living conditions.

Written by: Karen Benardello

Lea Michele