Tasmanian Fires – Equine Assistance Appeal

Many horses and owners have been devastated by the recent fires in Tasmania. To help them through these trying times, Horseland has launched the Tasmanian Fire Equine Assistance Appeal in conjunction with Quest Equine Welfare (QEW).

Horseland has already donated essential items, however, there is still demand for further assistance within the equestrian community.

Read about how you can help.

The Latest from QEW

Distance prevents QEW from being 'on the ground' and assisting equines and their owners in a hands-on manner for any period of time, but how we CAN assist, (and probably in a far more effective manner), is to act as a go-between for the many good people all over Australia who so desperately wish to be of help and support to the horses and horse owners of Tasmania who are facing such adversity at this time.

Much has been learnt from the Black Saturday fires and the Queensland flood disaster, in that it is better to provide funds, veterinary care and items, and other essential equipment to those in the field who are well placed to assess and allocate resources appropriately. From what has been relayed to QEW via local personnel, until such times as severely fire damaged areas have been searched, the full extent of animal injuries and casualties will not be known. Many of these areas are still completely inaccessible. Resources in these situations are precious indeed, and we believe they are best utilised to provide maximum benefit to those in need.

Use of donated funds will include, but will not be limited to; the purchase any equine related essential items, the purchase of hay, the purchase of emergency fencing supplies, and to finance veterinary care for equines whose owners are struggling due to being severely affected by fire. At such times, Quest also finances veterinary care and up-keep of any equines found whose ownership has not been established.

In the coming days we will be better placed to share a clearer picture of how equines have fared during this catastrophic event and how we are best placed to help them and their owners recover.

These events have extremely long-term consequences. Although a knee-jerk reaction is perfectly natural, please bear in mind that these communities will need on-going support for months to come.

All funds donated via Quest throughout the appeal period will be allocated specifically to this appeal unless specified otherwise by the donor. At the conclusion of our relief effort QEW will publish the report that we are obliged to submit to Consumer Affairs as a requirement of our fundraising approval. Please remember that all donations over $2 are 100% tax deductible.

QEW was very pleased to organise to cover the cost of emergency temporary fencing to the value of $3000, which is coming across as, at this stage, the most overwhelming need. These materials are being purchased locally. Wherever possible in these situations, if spending money, it's always good to do so in the local community with local businesses. Our contacts in the fire affected regions will be distributing the fencing materials to those they have identified as most in need. This amount of fencing won't go far, considering the huge area of the fire zone, but it's a start. Hundreds of kilometres have been left with no way of containing surviving stock, or keeping them off the roads. These funds have come from QEW's Disaster Relief account. The funds in this account have been donated specifically for the purpose of assisting equines in times of major disaster.

Most areas are still not accessible, and Forcett is not open. Personnel have not yet been into the Derwent Valley region where a fire is burning and threatening the region. Many areas are still being evacuated, and fire is now threatening Nubeena and Port Arthur due to a large fire front that can’t be controlled. It is anticipated that the peak time for the provision of animal welfare may be around the weekend. Currently Veterinary care is being provided by local Vets to any animals identified in need and those accessible.

Vets and other personnel have been using this time to formulate plans to be implemented when access to fire damaged areas is possible. Plans have been made by Kingston Animal Hospital and Hobart Community Vets to work together to go into fire zones once they are accessible and open. Fires are still burning and many areas are remaining closed to the public, with restricted access being given to Vets to only peripheral safe areas. Once areas are open to attend to animal casualties the Vets will be attending fire zones on a daily basis, Monday to Saturday, from 10am to evening. The process will be like any other rescue – triage - basic first aid - euthanasia when warranted - follow up.

We are currently following up with a couple of horse owners referred to us by local Vets whose horses have sustained serious injuries from running into/becoming entangled in fencing.

The feed situation at this time is good; there is ample feed available for immediate needs. It is widely agreed that temporary fencing is, and will be the most pressing need at this time.

Many areas are without power, and therefore authorities may delay people going back due to the risk of health problems – many of the local sewerage systems rely on power for their operation. Fire has affected such a large area that at least 800 power poles need to be replaced by the electricity company.

Every fire zone has its own issues depending upon the local topography. One of the main issues particular to these Tasmanian fires is access into fire-affected areas. Sadly, this necessary delay in access is going to mean that many animals will not receive the care they need within a time frame that would give them a fighting chance. The other aspect is that where water supplies have been affected, troughs burned etc.; there will be many animals who cannot survive an extended period of time before help arrives.

Our thoughts are with those who will be directly dealing with some very tragic scenarios over the coming weeks, not only animal owners, but Vets, DPI staff, RSPCA personnel, fire fighters and volunteers. At the end of the day, they are all ‘ordinary’ people like you and I, but venturing into extraordinary circumstances, the like of which the vast majority of people never have to face. Anything that we can do to make their job easier, we will.

We would like to comment upon how amazingly organised the Tasmanians seem to be, and also how incredibly generous the Tasmanian people are being towards their fellow Tasmanians in need. Literally thousands of bales of locally donated hay are sitting stock piled for use by the fire affected.

By: Quest Equine Welfare

Quick Links

• Donate funds and read more detailed updates about the 'Tasmanian Fires - Equine Assistance Appeal' at questequinewelfare.org
• Read about developing a bushfire plan