The trailer used to haul the Wellington County OPP’s two horses was taken off the road last week for safety reasons.
That move came as officials considered possible repairs to it.
But the fate of the trailer seems to pale beside that of the Mounted Unit itself.
Police Services Board chairman Lynda White said the board was scheduled to meet in Elora on Wednesday, and it would make a recommendation to keep or disband the unit.
County council was scheduled for the next day, June 24, and council was expected to consider the recommendation then.
White said she was “shocked” to learn the trailer had been taken off the road.
The trailer, which was purchased used about seven years ago, was designed to haul thoroughbred horses, and not the two large horses that the Mount Unit has been using. One of them, Bosco, weighs over 2,200 pounds, and the other, Jasper, is not much smaller.
White asked at the May county council meeting for people to contact her about their feelings for keeping the horses in the OPP’s operation.
She said on Monday that the responses to date have been 80 per cent in favour of keeping the Mounted Unit.
The county will have to come up with about $25,000 for a new trailer, but a new could last for many years. Other than that, the estimate is the cost for operating the Mounted Unit is about $10,000 per year.
