By Perry Schaible
Enquirer contributor

WEST CHESTER TWP. - Paul the Terminator is taking early retirement and needs a new home.

West Chester Police horse "Paul the Terminator" with his partner Sergeant Mark Weingartner is led out to the pasture at his temporary home in Monroe. (Enquirer photo/GLENN HARTONG)

The 5-year-old Tennessee Walking Horse is leaving service in the West Chester Police Department's Mounted Patrol Unit because of a medical condition that won't allow him to be ridden again.

Terminator, as he is known to police, has been diagnosed with Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis, a neurological disease that can cause a horse to become unaware of where its feet are and cause it to stumble or trip.

"He'll walk along and he'll be fine, and then all the sudden, he'll just fall," said Police Chief John Bruce.

That's why Terminator had to be retired after just a year of service and only three months on patrol.

"We're looking for somebody that has land that they can just turn him out and he can just graze," said Sgt. Mark Weingartner, supervisor of the mounted patrol unit.

Veterinarian Bryan McNabb of the Lebanon Equine Clinic diagnosed Terminator after officers noticed him tripping, which eventually led to a fall, during training.

The disease is transmitted through contact with opossums. The disease is not transmitted from horse to horse.

Terminator was bought by the Rotary Club of West Chester for the police department.

Terminator will be replaced in the spring.

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For more information, call Weingartner at 759-7274.