The photo of a police officer and a horse lying alongside each other on the street has gone viral, for the most heartbreaking of reasons:
Because the horse is dying.
The picture, which comes to us from My Fanatic per the Houston Police Department Facebook page, features a horse named Charlotte and her partner, Officer D. Herrejon.
According to authorities in the area, Charlotte had served as a police horse for four years when she got scared by a cement truck and bucked Herrejon off of her.
The animal was then fatally stuck by the truck, while the officer was taken to the hospital as a precaution but did not suffer any injuries.
"We admire the heart & strength of this officer because as you know, when you lose an animal, to be with them during their last breath is a heartbreaking & tough thing to do," wrote the department as a caption to this image.
It has received over 10,000 Likes on Facebook.
Added the police department in regard to Charlotte and her time as a police horse:
"Charlotte came to HPD as an unstarted 2-year old Tennessee Walker from Oklahoma.
"She thrived in HPD Mounted Patrol’s barefoot and natural horsemanship programs. She passed her evaluation period with flying colors and was working the streets of Downtown Houston within a short time of being started under saddle."
"She loved her job and was always ready to go to work putting bad guys in jail or giving nuzzles to children. She served the citizens of Houston for 4 years.
"She will be missed."