4 years ago
First came word that the United States Park Police didn't have enough money to afford an incoming recruitment class. Well, now we've learned that the same department may be coming up short in feeding and maintaining the health of their horses.
The horses affected the most, or with the worst limps in this case, are the same horses most likely to be used to patrol the National Mall - and this is not a money thing. This is a paperwork problem.
In what a U.S. Park Police spokesperson describes as an unofficial notice from a sergeant, members of the mounted patrol on the National Mall were given a copy of the paper in mid-July, which informs officers of what they were not to do if their four legged partner's hooves were hurting.
It reads:
Effective immediately. Do not call the farrier for service. Steve Fulton does not have a contract for service with us and is precluded from providing service. Should your horse lose a shoe, you must evaluate if he is serviceable without a shoe, and if not serviceable, he must be placed out of service.
And then there was the horse food. Effective immediately, all horses will be fed half rations of grain. This is needed as there is a significant shortage of grain available and questions about when we will receive a new order. Please increase hay ration.
But now even the hay is running low.
And the problem here isn't a lack of money, but a new mountain of paper work. A new, and what is supposed to be simpler, procurement process is still being worked through and figured out.
9NEWS NOW has been told the paperwork has been completed and Park Police are just waiting on the contractors to be informed so the food can get to the horses.
Written by 9NEWS NOW
