HOWELL – For some police departments, it’s not every day they receive a report about missing ponies or horses. For the Howell Township Police Department however, farm animals tend to get out and wander through the town from time to time.
On August 5, the Howell PD posted a humorous statement about two in custody for a recent “Hoof Pursuit.”
“When two mischievous ponies escaped from a summer riding camp on Casino Drive, Howell officers were called in for assistance. The first rule in escaping is to split up. These amateurs stuck together running through back yards stopping occasionally to eat vegetation,” the Department said.
“Horses on adjacent properties seem to aid in their escape by purposely running around their pens creating a dust cloud to obstruct our view as the suspects ran past. Clever,” the Department wrote, playing into the humor of the situation.
The fun narrative came to a happy ending after police caught the escapees. Officers were able to quickly set up a perimeter along Casino and Georgia Tavern Road to make sure the ponies were protected from being struck by passing cars and to contain them in the search area.
Police even dispatched one of their drones to assist the search overhead. It only took a few minutes, but officers located the two ponies about a half mile from the original scene.
Howell Police Officers Matthew Cadott and Scott Bigelow along with two girls from the farm successfully led the ponies out of a backyard.
“We found them on Casino in someone’s backyard. The two girls with us worked at the farm. They brought a pail of food to help focus them in. They put the reins and harnesses on them while they were eating and were able to walk them out,” Cadott explained. “Unfortunately, horses get out quite frequently. I would say in the more northern section. People think of Howell and they’re like ‘you guys are more like a city.’ No, we’ve had bulls run away, we’ve had horses run away. This is probably my third horse call this year. This is a pretty normal occurrence than one would say.”
