He was called the Gentle Giant, a majestic creature that did his job with aplomb, had a horse's sense of humour and was always willing to please.

Yet in the line of duty, Brigadier, an 8-year-old prize-winning Belgian cross with the Toronto mounted police unit, was violently struck in what police are calling a deliberate hit-and-run in Scarborough on Friday.

In an emotional and heartbreaking scene, the emergency task force unit was called in to shoot the animal after it suffered two broken legs and lay on the road in excruciating pain.

Police say Brigadier took the brunt of the vehicle's impact and in all likelihood saved his rider's life.

I cried when I watched this on the news last night, because they were showing the men holding Brigadier down as he thrashed and flailed in agony. It makes me wonder if the age of mounted police might be over, given what traffic is in cities like Toronto. Not to mention the high incidence of traffic accidents we have - many hit-and-runs - by our enormous immigrant population who likely never learned the rules of the road while forcing their way through bazaars and around cows.

Even my own husband, a British national, usually hands the keys over to me in heavy traffic or inclement weather, due to the whole "wrong side of the road" thing. In stressful situations, it's better to have someone who went through the training in those cicumstances.

Dirk Sankersingh, 42, is charged with dangerous operation causing bodily harm and failing to remain at the scene of an accident. He made a brief appearance at Old City Hall courthouse yesterday. Dressed in an orange detainee's jumpsuit, the burly, tired-looking man conferred occasionally with his defence lawyer, Al Hart, from the prisoner's box.

At his lawyer's request, the court granted medical treatment for Sankersingh and remanded him in custody until tomorrow. Hart said Sankersingh suffers from a pre-existing bleeding ulcer and also has "an unspecified mental condition."

Is "asshole" a pre-existing medical condition?