Without a doubt, 2009 was filled with bad news in the horse world and the world at large. One depressing trend of recent news is the loss of mounted patrols from cities across America. With the economy forcing cities to cut their budgets in creative and often unfortunate ways, the expensive police horses are an easy target.
One of the latest casualties of the economy is San Diego’s mounted patrol, and right now the recently unemployed horses and their tack are being auctioned off online. Read the full details here. According to the auction site, the city reserves the right to inspect a buyer’s property to ensure that the horses will go to homes with adequate facilities. They certainly deserve good forever homes after their service to the city of San Diego, and I hope that they find them.
Most of these horses are draft crosses, and due to the nature of their work, they’re undoubtedly about as bombproof as a horse can be. I wanted to draw some attention to this story in case any of our readers on the left coast are in the market for a fabulous trail horse or know someone who is.
You can view the horses and tack (along with other livestock and related items) here.
Back to The Near Side
I hope they find great homes!
So very sad. What are they thinking?!
I wish there was more national news coverage about this because more than likely some organization or individual may be able to step up to do fund raising to help these programs out. What does it take to get coverage of this? These programs provide valuable service to our cities.