If a police horse defecates on the road, who is responsible for cleaning up the mess? The Toronto Police Services went above and beyond their call of duty Friday afternoon, answering questions about it on Twitter.
The discussion was apparently started by Toronto-based author and journalist Shawn Micallef, who wanted to know if the "poop and scoop" rule applies to police horses in the city. The discussion piled on from there, and soon caught the attention of those on Twitter – likely because the police were using the hashtag "#poopchat."
Arrangement made w/ City & Mounted. If you see horse poop, call *311 or 416.808.2222/*687. Will come out to scoop. ^vk #poopchat
— Toronto Police (@TorontoPolice) September 5, 2014
Cop at times, unaware. Horse poops while walking. If solo, might be unsafe to dismount to scoop: horse not under control. ^vk #poopchat
— Toronto Police (@TorontoPolice) September 5, 2014
Poop catchers needs cart which we don't use. Poop bag designed for walk. Spooks horse in trott/canter... and looks silly ;) ^vk #poopchat
— Toronto Police (@TorontoPolice) September 5, 2014
Mennonite communities researched. No safety issue found even on roads shared by non-horse-drawn buggies. ^vk #poopchat
— Toronto Police (@TorontoPolice) September 5, 2014
If cop aware poop in bikelane, sidewalk, private prpty & can keep horse in control dismounted, will kick it off to side. ^vk #poopchat
— Toronto Police (@TorontoPolice) September 5, 2014
If cop aware, but cannot/unsafe to keep horse in control during dismount, will radio in for clean up. ^vk #poopchat
— Toronto Police (@TorontoPolice) September 5, 2014
The police later admitted their use of the hashtag “#poopchat” was probably the “WorstHashtagEVER.”
That's it for now. Once I have spoken w/ Mounted Sarg, I will provide more. ^vk #WorstHashtagEVER #poopchat
— Toronto Police (@TorontoPolice) September 5, 2014
