Company owner charged after horses wander from barn in Charleston

CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) - A video shared on social media captures two horses wandering unrestrained on Pinckney Street in Downtown Charleston.

The City of Charleston’s Livability and Tourism Department is investigating the incident that happened on Sunday afternoon.

The department’s director, Dan Riccio, says it’s unlawful for animals of any kind to roam unrestrained throughout the city.

The horses belonged to the Carolina Polo and Carriage Company.

Riccio says the owner of the company was charged with allowing animals at large, and that he’ll have to appear in livability court where he’ll face a fine up to $1,087.

The person who took the video says he was driving when he noticed the horses were roaming.

That’s when he went to the nearby barns to alert them.

He says he went to the Carolina Polo Carriage Company first but no one was in the barn, so he went to another company and their workers retrieved the horses.

The horses didn’t make it far, they were caught across the street from the Carolina Polo Carriage Company on the property of the Andrew Pinckney Inn.

“The purpose of issuing a summons at this point is to ensure that it doesn’t happen again in the future because if the animal could hurt a citizen or the animal can be hurt themselves,” Riccio said. “So we have to take precautions to ensure that the behavior is corrected for future.”

The Carolina Polo and Carriage Company does not have a comment at this time.

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