Carriage horse dies in downtown Memphis

By | September 2, 2017 at 2:21 AM CDT - Updated August 16 at 5:31 AM

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC) - A carriage horse died in Downtown Memphis on Friday night..

The horse, named Junior, was injured near Monroe Avenue and South Main Street shortly before 7 p.m. and was eventually euthanized.

Uptown Carriage Company, the company who owned the horse, released a statement on the death:

On behalf of Uptown Carriage Company and the carriage industry in Memphis, we are saddened to announce the loss of Junior, a young horse who joined our family a short couple of months ago. According to our Veterinarian who was contacted immediately, Junior without notice experienced extremely rare paralysis and went down. Upon arrival of our veterinarian it was recommended junior be euthanized. I would like to thank the city of Memphis Police Department for their extremely professional diligence in helping us deal with a sad situation.

Witnesses who saw the incident said it's not something they'll forget.

"Every time they tried to pick the horse up, it goes right back down, and it's just very upsetting," witness Mary Ann Gross said.

Members of Downtown Memphis Commission (DMC) said the carriage company will determine if any changes are needed to the current regulations in order to keep horses safe.

Jaske Goff, who works for the DMC, walked by shortly after Junior collapsed. Goff said the DMC was troubled by what happened to the horse.

"We're very sad about the incident. It was a tragic event," Goff said.

Goff also said the commission will stay updated on whether any changes are made to horse carriage policy by the company or the city of Memphis.