Alerts
2/19/2009 - VICTORIAN HORSE INDUSTRY APPOINTS A CRISIS COMMITTEE
BRIEF:
VICTORIAN HORSE INDUSTRY APPOINTS A CRISIS COMMITTEE
The Victorian Horse Council supported by the Australian Horse Industry Council convened a meeting of 35 representatives from various organisations in the Victorian horse industry last night. The Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria generously allowed use of its meeting rooms at the Melbourne Showgrounds for the gathering.
The meeting was called to gain information about the impact of the recent devastating bushfires on the horse industry, and the progress of the assistance to those in affected areas.
Much of the area remains a designated crime scene and access is tightly controlled. A picture of the overall impact on the horse industry will emerge once all areas are opened again.
Preliminary estimates are that several hundred horses have died, about 50 are currently under intensive veterinary care, and several hundred more are under less intensive care for minor burns and other injuries. So far veterinarians and their suppliers have been able to do this work at no charge, but that cannot last forever. Lack of a secure identification system and database makes accurate estimations of the impact impossible.
There has been an outpouring of generosity from across Australia. Donations of hay, horse gear, offers of agistment, assistance with caring for horses, volunteers at veterinary practices, and input from various government departments are in place. The problem is one of co-ordination of all these efforts.
To address the co-ordination issue, the meeting decided to form a Crisis Committee of 8 people representing Victorian Horse Council, Project Hope, Triple R Triple R Equine Welfare Inc, Cyberhorse, Kentucky Equine Research and Equestrian Victoria. This group will better define what help is needed, where it is needed, and a co-ordinated way of matching needs with supply. A centralised inventory management system to track all this information is probably needed.
The relief effort will need to go on for many months. Even if normal rain comes over the autumn and winter months, there will be no pasture growth until sometime into spring. Much pasture and dormant seed has been rendered completely useless by the very high temperatures of the fire. During pasture regrowth, horse owners will need to be careful about toxic weeds in paddocks which proved a real problem after the Canberra bushfires. There are large areas of land that will need to be completely resown with pasture and other vegetation.
There will be a need for ongoing consultation and co-ordination with the Victorian horse industry during these recovery efforts. This could take years.
Further information will be available shortly on the Victorian Horse Council website at http://www.vhc.org.au/