Imperial dogs VS horses

[Taro Toporific]

Imperial Household agency not horsing around in sniffer dog spat
(Mainichi Shimbun, July 15, 2004)
Fear over how horses will react has sparked a spat between police and the Imperial Household Agency over proposals to use sniffer dogs to boost security surrounding the Imperial Family....
"Barking could scare the horses and make them bolt," an agency spokesman said.
Imperial Palace police have applied for a budget allocation of several dozen million yen to buy sniffer dogs that could be posted on the palace grounds to detect hidden explosives...Imperial Household Agency ... worried about the roughly 50 horses it keeps in the Imperial Palace largely for their use in ceremonial activities.
Citing fears of how the horses would react to the dogs' barking, possible attacks on humans and how the canine presence could ruin the environment because of smells and molting, the agency was far from keen on the idea....
However, an incident in May 2001 where two agency officials were bitten by police dogs appears to be in the minds of agency officials.