Carriage company suspended

Draft horses working for Carolina Polo and Carriage Co. could take the busy Thanksgiving week off this year.

Charleston tourism officials suspended the company's operations for 30 days, which amounts to Carolina Polo shutting down for seven days, and allows for an additional 23-day suspension if the company receives any more citations resulting in convictions during a three-month period.

The suspension, which is effective Nov. 24, comes after the company pleaded guilty to four code violations related to the way it maintained its horses and stables.

Carolina Polo faced a maximum six-month suspension. The penalty, one week off the streets, will mark the longest shutdown in Charleston carriage tour history, according to city attorney Ravi Sanyal.

"This is the stiffest punishment ever given by the city for a violation of the animal welfare ordinance," he said. "It is the strongest that has ever been handed down. To close down a business for seven days is a strong penalty, and there is the potential to close for up to 30 days."

Sanyal said the timing had nothing to do with the holiday week. City officials this week received the final livability court order from Carolina Polo's August trial and built in time for the company to appeal the suspension.

Carolina Polo's attorney, Capers Barr, said the company would do just that. If Barr files the appeal to the city Tourism Commission, which meets Dec. 2, he could push back the Nov. 24 shutdown. "I think we have some very sound basis for the appeal," Barr said. He said he would share those details after providing them to city officials.

The sanctions mark the final step in a process that began months ago. In June, tourism officials commissioned a veterinarian to conduct the first comprehensive inspection of the city's five carriage tour companies using standards developed two years earlier.

Carolina Polo received the most citations, with six infractions related to giving the horses the lowest-quality feed and hay, providing altered medical records and cleaning stalls in a manner that creates toxic gas. The company received five more citations after it failed to meet deadlines to bring the operation to code.

At an August trial, Municipal Judge Michael Molony assessed the company nearly $1,800 in fines, including the maximum $1,092 penalty for feeding practices alone. He suspended portions of fines related to harnesses and stalls and suspended for a year the entire fine related to record-keeping.

Molony also asked, but did not order, that Carolina Polo provide free tours to standout students at James Simons Elementary School downtown.

Barr suggested in court that his client seemed singled out because, though all five companies received violations, the city pursued only Carolina Polo's case. After trial, Sanyal said Carolina Polo received greater scrutiny because it received far more citations than any other company.

Reach Allyson Bird at 937-5594 or abird@postandcourier.com.