A nightclub that was closed following an ‘inhumane’ incident involving a horse has had its licence reinstated, after it agreed to pay $10,000 (£7,000) to an equine charity.
A horse was ridden into a crowd at Mokai Lounge in Miami Beach, United States, overnight between 7-8 March.
The horse, who was ridden by a scantily-clad woman, slipped and fell and the woman was unseated.
WATCH: Mokai Lounge in Miami Beach under fire after video surfaced of a horse inside the nightclub pic.twitter.com/C7Saz3q20aWATCH: Mokai Lounge in Miami Beach under fire after video surfaced of a horse inside the nightclub pic.twitter.com/C7Saz3q20a— Joel Franco (@OfficialJoelF) March 9, 2018— Joel Franco (@OfficialJoelF) March 9, 2018
The next day Miami Beach city manager Jimmy Morales issued an order for the club’s business licence to be revoked.
Miami Beach mayor Dan Gelber said he “fully supported” Mr Morales’ actions.
“It was dangerous to this animal, it was dangerous to the public and it was inhumane,” he said.
The club had its licence reinstated following a hearing on 19 March.
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“The City of Miami Beach and the owners of Mokai Lounge entered into an agreed order which we believe resolves the outstanding violations and effectively prevents the use of animals at this nightclub in the future,” said Mr Morales.
The club owners agreed to pay fines of $12,150 (£8,600) and donate $10,000 to a local equine rescue charity.
The owners also agreed never to allow animals into Mokai Lounge in future, except for service animals under Florida law.
If there is a future violation of the order, the city will have the right to automatically and permanently revoke its business license.
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“We recognised that there are a multitude of implications surrounding the permanent closure of this business, including the notion that the business does provide employment for many individuals,” added a Miami city spokesman.
“But we take very seriously what transpired in that club, and we wanted to structure an arrangement that would likely ensure that such improper conduct would never happen again at this business.
“This agreed order essentially creates a permanent revocation penalty for this business should they ever use an animal in that establishment again. Combined with the expensive lesson of the fines and revenue losses, we believe this arrangement represents a very strong incentive to comply, which sends a message out to anyone else that would ever try this type of stunt in the future.”
H&H has contacted the club for comment.
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Rachael joined Horse & Hound in 2014, initially as a digital sub editor then became part of the news team as a writer in 2015. The philosophy graduate studied journalism at the Press Association before working as a local reporter at the Brentwood Gazette. Rachael is now a mum of two and still loves all things equestrian, including hacking, dressage and jumping with her cob Bert. Rachael left the H&H staff to go freelance in June 2019, but still contributes to our magazine and website, as well as our sister magazine Country Life, among others.
