Photo of Texas Police Officer with Dying Horse Goes Viral

A photo of a Houston Police Department Mounted Patrol officer and a department dying horse has gone viral. The horse was hit by a cement truck on December 3 while working in the line of duty.

The six-year-old Tennessee Walker, Charlotte, was assigned to HPD Officer D. Herrejon. They were working in downtown Houston near the courthouse complex when a noise startled her. As reported by the Houston Chronicle, the horse jumped to the side and was hit by the passing cement truck. Her back legs were reportedly severely injured and she was put to sleep where she lay.

The photo of the HPD officer holding the dying horse has gone viral. The photo is of Officer Herrejo’s partner. Herrejo had been taken to the hospital to be evaluated.

The Houston Police Department announced the passing of Charlotte on the department’s Facebook page.

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The post said, “Charlotte came to HPD as an unstarted 2-year old Tennessee Walker from Oklahoma. She thrived in HPD Mounted Patrol’s barefoot and natural horsemanship programs. She passed her evaluation period with flying colors and was working the streets of Downtown Houston within a short time of being started under saddle.”

The post continued, “She loved her job and was always ready to go to work putting bad guys in jail or giving nuzzles to children.”

The statement said there is an on-going investigation into the accident but the driver of the vehicle is not believed to be at-fault.

The now-viral photo was taken by a passerby and was posted on Facebook by the Animal Justice League:

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Lana Shadwick is a contributing writer and legal analyst for Breitbart Texas. She has served as an associate judge and prosecutor. Follow her on Twitter @LanaShadwick2