Letter to Member of Ford

This is what I have sent - please feel free to use my words.

Dear Kay I am writing to you to plea for help with the Equine Influenza. We need action now – on TV and on the radio – constant broadcasts to inform people of what the Bio-Security measures mean. We are now into the fifth week of the lock-down and many horse owners, horse related workers and business are going to go to the wall. A subsequent fall out of this on top of the drought is going to be starvation and neglect of horses as well. We cannot get a vet to travel to our properties at the moment (foaling has already begun this season), and horse feed is nearly treble of what it was 2-3 years ago. The biggest problem is lack of information – the QLD DPI is 7-10 days behind visiting possible infected properties, and vets will not attend or prescribe antibiotics until confirmed. Although the centres set up provides basic information for many horse owners, it isn’t actually achieving much as people continue to move about transporting the virus from property to property ( a lot faster than the DPI can distribute information) – and now, of course, the Brisbane Racing Stables at Hendra has signs of EI. Most horse’s owners are relying on email and internet links of blog sites to locate where the latest infection is, how horses are fairing, getting much needed advice and support. Please help us as the crisis is escalating fast.
Yours Sincerely Fiona Spillane

Owner of 3 retired ex-race horses and two dressage horses Tamborine Qld 4270
Regards
Fiona Spillane