Toronto Police mourn the loss of ‘gentle giant’
Viscount, a 19-year-old police horse, died on Christmas Day after a storied career
Standing 170 centimetres tall at the shoulders and weighing a hefty 750 kilograms, he cut a deceptively imposing figure on Toronto’s bustling streets.
Viscount “was a gentle giant . . . an elder statesman,” recalls Staff Sgt. Graham Queen, who heads the Toronto Police Mounted Unit.
On Christmas Day, Queen’s unit lost one of its most valued members. After15 years of dedicated service, Viscount, a 19-yearold Percheron cross, died in his stable at Exhibition Place. He was only a year away from retirement.
“I could see that he was not his normal self,” says Const. David Moore of entering the horse’s stall early Christmas morning. Moore had been partnered with the animal for the past 18 months. “I could tell he was in some distress.” When a veterinarian arrived, Viscount was diagnosed with a form of colic, a horrifically painful gastrointestinal condition that can strike suddenly. Unable to operate on the suffering animal, Moore’s superiors made the painful decision to have the horse put down that morning.
“It was very hard to be there,” Moore, still reeling from Viscount’s death, told the Star on Tuesday. “But at the same time, I felt like it was my duty and I owed it to Viscount.”
Born on a farm, Viscount arrived in Toronto for training at the ripe age of 4. That training, which habituates skittish horses to the disorienting sights and sounds of the big city, was a breeze for Viscount, whose name connotes nobility.
“I think he deserved it,” Moore, who has been with the police for 11 years, says of his former mount’s moniker. “It suited him.”
The mounted unit, which celebrates its 130th anniversary next year, now has 27 horses. Although the unit primarily handles crowd management, it is often deployed for parades and ceremonies, traffic control, to search for people in wooded areas or to patrol the city’s streets. Despite being one of the largest horses in the unit, Viscount’s naturally calm disposition made him perfect for training new recruits.
“They’re very gentle creatures, and they rely on you to take care of them,” Queen says of his animals. “It’s quite a bond between a horse and a human.”
In keeping with his stature in the mounted unit, Viscount’s death garnered an outpouring of support and sympathy on social media, including a tweet from police Chief Mark Saunders, calling Viscount’s passing a “devastating loss.” At the Exhibition grounds, Moore’s fellow officers have honoured their equine comrade by draping his stall with his ceremonial tack. A simple service will soon be held for his cremated remains.
To Moore, Viscount was more than just a mount — he was also a partner.
“He got me home safely at the end of the day, and I got him home safely at the end of the day,” Moore says. “It’s a unique relationship because you’re relying on each other so much.”
Moore, who would start his morn- ings by brushing Viscount’s chocolate brown coat, would usually end his days by riding his bicycle past Viscount’s stall to say goodbye.
“It’s definitely a sad adjustment,” Moore adds. “Every time I pass by the poor guy’s stall . . . ” He trails off. “It’s been hard.”