225BatonRouge.com

Who cleans up after Baton Rouge Police Department horses?

Answer: Depends where the deed is done.

We’ve all seen police on horseback at parades and large-scale public events. More recently, the division led by Mounted Patrol Commander Billy Walker barricaded Carlotta Street against an inundation of revelers for the neighborhood’s annual Halloween street party.

But what happens when these horses are dropping more than justice on the streets? According to police spokesman Sgt. Don Kelly, if the incident occurs in the street, officers are free to leave it there. If an equine surprise lands on private property or in an area of high pedestrian traffic, officers try to clean up the mess the best they can. Mounted police are equipped with scoopers and garbage bags for this very reason. “It depends on the circumstances,” Kelly says. “For instance, if it’s a parade they can’t stop the whole parade every time a horse relieves himself.”

So even in the face of unspeakable violations of sanitation and odor, the parade, like the show, must go on.