Cal Poly San Luis Obispo staff are urging the public to stay out of animal enclosures after a social media video showed students breaking into the campus’ pasture.
One person in the video is seen climbing onto a horse’s back. Others were seen taking pictures and petting the animals.
Irini Pateras is the Equine Center’s Manager. She said the horses were only a year old and not trained to withstand the weight of a human yet.
“We work so hard to take care of these animals and to have people just blatantly disrespect that and disturb them is such a big deal,” Pateras said.
Pateras reminds people that admiring animals from outside the fence is permitted, but feeding and petting them is not. She says this rule is for the safety of both people and the animals.
University Police are investigating the social media video.
The Cal Poly, SLO College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences is urging the public to call campus police if anyone is seen disturbing the horses or other animals on campus.
