Sensible solution?
Finally Someone Who Can Offer a Sensible Solution to the EI mess.
Dr Elizabeth Woolsey Herberts blog on the Horse Deals site yesterday is the most logical and sensible solution to current EI mess. She speaks from experience, there is no doubt why the veterinarians in the USA are ‘shaking their heads on the current eradication plan’ in place in Australia. All countries outside of NZ and Iceland live and compete with EI, it has not desecrated their equine industries as the powers to be try tell us in Australia. At the moment the total equine industry is suffering, testament to this is the hundreds of individual blogs on this site. The financial ramifications on the current strategy will be felt for many years to come unless a sensible and logical solution is implemented.
Woolsey Herberts solution of letting the economic forces solve the problem is sensible, the cost of vaccination would be just another normal operating cost of horse ownership, why not provide horse owners with the choice to vaccinate or not. The argument of future flu outbreaks does not gel, if those who want to travel, compete and generally care for their equine companion choose to vaccinate at their cost like our counterparts overseas do now, just like we do here in Australia for tetanus and strangles. Those who wish not to vaccinate take the risk. The argument if another flu outbreak occurred ‘one would never know when an event of series of events will be cancelled’ – well that’s exactly what we have now, if we were given the choice to vaccinate then responsible horse owners would be able to compete and events would not be cancelled. If a horse did become ill of course the owner would not compete with that horse just like we do now if our horse has the common cold – what is the difference?
The current situation of vaccination for some and not for others, does not give the horse owner ‘freedom of choice’, it does not allow those who genuinely care for the equines the opportunity to safeguard the health of their animals, why are the ‘Chief Veterinary Officers’ of each state holding horse owners to ransom, crippling entire equine industry, and meantime sending vets out in space suits to vaccinate those who are the fortunate ones. Could you imagine if the same scenario occurred with vaccination of mans best friend our companion dogs, the uproar of dog owners across Australia if the Chief Veterinary Officers of each state chose that ‘Bindy’ the poodle could be vaccinated but ‘Rover’ the kelpie working dog couldn’t against a parvo outbreak. There isn’t a difference. The time has come to stand up and be counted bombard state ministers, state chief veterinary officers, dpi officers, and anyone who can help our cause - if the current strategy continues we may not have an industry to save.
Michelle Williams NSW
Dr Elizabeth Woolsey Herberts blog on the Horse Deals site yesterday is the most logical and sensible solution to current EI mess. She speaks from experience, there is no doubt why the veterinarians in the USA are ‘shaking their heads on the current eradication plan’ in place in Australia. All countries outside of NZ and Iceland live and compete with EI, it has not desecrated their equine industries as the powers to be try tell us in Australia. At the moment the total equine industry is suffering, testament to this is the hundreds of individual blogs on this site. The financial ramifications on the current strategy will be felt for many years to come unless a sensible and logical solution is implemented.
Woolsey Herberts solution of letting the economic forces solve the problem is sensible, the cost of vaccination would be just another normal operating cost of horse ownership, why not provide horse owners with the choice to vaccinate or not. The argument of future flu outbreaks does not gel, if those who want to travel, compete and generally care for their equine companion choose to vaccinate at their cost like our counterparts overseas do now, just like we do here in Australia for tetanus and strangles. Those who wish not to vaccinate take the risk. The argument if another flu outbreak occurred ‘one would never know when an event of series of events will be cancelled’ – well that’s exactly what we have now, if we were given the choice to vaccinate then responsible horse owners would be able to compete and events would not be cancelled. If a horse did become ill of course the owner would not compete with that horse just like we do now if our horse has the common cold – what is the difference?
The current situation of vaccination for some and not for others, does not give the horse owner ‘freedom of choice’, it does not allow those who genuinely care for the equines the opportunity to safeguard the health of their animals, why are the ‘Chief Veterinary Officers’ of each state holding horse owners to ransom, crippling entire equine industry, and meantime sending vets out in space suits to vaccinate those who are the fortunate ones. Could you imagine if the same scenario occurred with vaccination of mans best friend our companion dogs, the uproar of dog owners across Australia if the Chief Veterinary Officers of each state chose that ‘Bindy’ the poodle could be vaccinated but ‘Rover’ the kelpie working dog couldn’t against a parvo outbreak. There isn’t a difference. The time has come to stand up and be counted bombard state ministers, state chief veterinary officers, dpi officers, and anyone who can help our cause - if the current strategy continues we may not have an industry to save.
Michelle Williams NSW
posted by Horse Deals Reader at
9:46 am
12 Comments:
'Normal operating cost of horse ownership'
A cost that may also put a lot of horse people out of business and make competing unfordable for many.
Have you read the latest on what the EFA has stated it will cost their members? - approx $300 per year per horse. I think this cost will be roughly the same for anyone who competes under any organization like the ACA,ASHS,Pony Clubs ect. I know many family's with a few pony club horses and even many EFA members who will find this cost a huge burden.
Sorry, but I think anyone who thinks $300 a horse per year will be easy to bear because it will be just another normal operating cost is out of touch with reality.
The reality is that ongoing vaccination IS going to be a financial burden for many.
I don't think that Michelle or Woolsey quite "get it".
Horse ownership has been affordable for many people that in future it will no longer be if we have to "live" with horse flu. I can't afford to vaccinate both my daughters' ponies and my step daughter's pony as well (step daughter is only there half the time - she is already very lucky to have a pony, if vaccination was part of the deal, I guess she will have to find another sport). I also have my own two to vaccinate, I seriously would have to ask the question (is it all worth it?).
Also, the new pony club in our town which was due to have it's first rally in September, may well be put back in the can - it is all sounding too hard. How many others are going to feel the same way??
Perhaps if the killed vaccine was available as it can be done by your vet, and as it costs approx $15. US for each shot , as stated in the article in question, we would be able to afford it. At least it would be a matter of choice which at the moment no one has.
Yes Anonymous the cost of the vaccine itself cheap but I think point is that all associations that run events will require certification of vaccination (due partly to insurance issues) which means the vaccine will need to be administered by a vet and the paperwork signed by the vet - exactly the same as it is for dogs now. You cannot go to a dog club or kennel unless you have proof of vaccination - horse sports will be no different.
It is very easy to see why the EFA has announced that it will be around $300, unfortunately for some competitors whether they be members of the pony club, EFA or one of the many other horse association's the cost will be a liability which might mean some people will have to give up competing and the smaller clubs may even suffer as well due to less members and thus funds.
I don't think that vaccination is the way to go. My husband and I have around 30 horses at the moment. These horses are mainly used for polocrosse and breeding. We supply horses to many club members who just can't afford top performance horses. The cost for us to vaccinate ALL of our horses would be too much and I guess we would cut down our numbers and just tell people that they will have to buy their own horses. I think vaccination would turn alot of people away from horses!!!
The cost of the actual vaccine (killed) is very economical as a previous poster says. If documentation is required, to keep cost affordable perhaps PCs/ Show cttes in each district could organise 'vaccination days' the
same as is done for 'measuring days' in NZ.
Instead of looking just at the worst case scenario, maybe start looking at ways to make the best of a shonky situation, and thereby keep horse sports affordable for the wider public. Just a thought.
Us in NZ think of you guys heaps. NZ horse owners are nearly all 'little' people too - regardless of the the noise from the Racing Industry.
5% of horses have EI
Only vaccine manufacturers and vets will see benefits from letting it go on to infect the other 95% of horses and for EI to be declared endemic.
I agree with Kerry and Jodi! And I used to know Elizabeth Herbert when I lived in SA now in VIC, but dont agree with everything she has said!
If Australia is forced to vaccinate, owning and riding horses will become a rich man's sport like in Europe and other international countries, where unless you are very wealthy you just dont do it! Gone will be the days of a family owning a pony for the kids and pony clubs will probably slowly disappear! Numbers of competitors at the local show will slowly reduce over time. Nobody wants to see this happen.
Even if we could get vaccine for $15 a dose (probably not likely there will be some tax on it somewhere) you still have to get a vet to administer and sign a certificate, and most vets usually charge $50++ per consult so if you are like me and have 8 horses that is $520++ each time I vaccinate so twice yearly that is already $1040++ per year on top of increasing feed prices that are probably never going to come down with continuing drought and global warming. We would also have to microchip the first time the horses are vaccinated and how much is that ?? $40 - $60p/horse I am guessing?! I am not against vaccination, but the limited effectiveness with high cost is the major problem for me.
Besides the fact that it is not our fault it is here in the first place we shouldnt have to pay for it. The revenue the horse industry(mainly racing) makes for the government should be used to pay for the mistake of EI getting into australia and spreading this virus the way it has, instead of us the little people who just get by paying their day to day bills. This just makes the 'rich richer and the poor poorer'!
If the horse industry had been shut down completely (racing included) from the start for two months then just maybe we wouldnt be pushed into this situation. It wouldnt have spread the way it has and we might all have been getting back to our normal lives with our horses by now!!
I dont usually winge and have not placed any bloggs, but this made me say something. I am certainly amazed at the amount of people who are pushing for vaccination without all the facts and effects of it on a long term basis!!
lol I cannot understand why people would complain about having to pay a few lousy hundred dollars to vaccinate their horse every year from this dreaded disease! Don't you people know horses are dying everywhere and we are not being told!
As Michelle said it will become a normal operating expense and If people cannot afforded it then perhaps they should reduce the amount of horses they have or realise that horse ownership really is not for them.
Some of us would do anything to get that vaccine for our horses. It sounds to me like Michelle has a good grasp of the situation and she has been working hard to further our cause. It's good to see someone connected with the veterinary field standing up for us 'responsible' and 'caring' horse owners who are willing to pay anything to vaccinate our horses!
Thank you Michelle lol
Cheers
I guess Bindi, you are not one of those who is likely to have to tell your newly affilitated pony club (which hasn't even had a rally yet, and only has 10 members, that we probably will can the whole idea) and also you are obviosly not one of those who will have to get rid of your horses as you can actually no longer afford to have them...
Bindi you obviously dont know all the facts about vaccination as do most of us! And i for one certainly know many many foals and other vulnernable horses have been lost. But from most of the reports and the fact that EI got here in the first place shows (all the stallions and horses that arrived from overseas were vaccinated) that vaccination is not really an effective method as it still spreads and horses still get sick although maybe not as bad. I would rather see us get rid of it than continually having outbreaks of the virus forever which is what will happen, all the international countries that have had it are get frequent outbreaks! Do you want this in Australia? So like I mentioned earlier it is not just cost that is a problem it is cost inconjuction with limited effectiveness!!
It may be a rich man's sport in Europe, but it isn't in the States, and no one wants to know about your EI vaccine status unless you are going to EFA type events. It is ~$15 -20 and most of the time the vaccine is scheduled with other things and not just a vaccine. It is the protocol and the government agencies that are making this so expensive.
If the current vaccine protocol is going to be continued at the current rate then don't worry, they will never get to you. A colleague said that he vaccinated 38 horses in one day with his group. At that rate and 650,000 horses in Australia and say 20 vaccination groups even per state it would take ~150 working days to do all the horses in Australia. In the States we had a threat of Venezuelan equine encephalitis. Vets were given the vaccine and a simple certificate book which held the age breed sex and name of the horse and owner. There were about 10 horses per page and then the owners called our clinic if they wanted the vaccine and we made trips to various areas and vaccinated horses. In two weeks we did about 6,000 horses along with the other emergencies and that was just my dad alone. The government paid him $6 per horse. Different virus but very effective vaccination plan. Owners were happy and the vets were happy and a very high percentage of the population got immunity from the disease and it really did halt the progression.
I think it is a bit rich to say that the lousy money hungry vets and the vaccine companies will get rich and that is bad. I want to thank the vaccine companies for having the vaccines available and I want to thank any vet will come to vaccinate the horses. In case you haven't noticed there is a rural vet crisis and there are darn few of us here to even do it right now. I am vet and I am saying just let vets, or even someone else, sell the vaccine and not try to kill a fat hog in every dose. After a year or so EI will not (if we have a good distribution of vaccine) be a big deal and I will not, for one, be suggesting that my client who put on shows require verification of vaccine. In my practice in the States maybe 10 % vaccinated twice a year and 5% 3-4 times per year. I saw maybe one EI case a year. I certainly saw more than one case of rhino abortion per year and occasionally the odd case of neurological rhino (you really don't want that one) and yet no one asks for certificates for rhino immunization at shows. You have been inundated with hype about the vaccine and its drawbacks. Those same nay-sayers are now trying to buy more vaccine. You have been told that EI vaccine will make horse owning too expensive. It doesn't need to be like that. Ask American horse owners. It is not the vaccine that will make it expensive, it is the bureaucratic regulation that will make horse owning more expensive. You need to demand a vaccine that is affordable and you need to protect your horses and that doesn’t need to cost as much as your new saddle pad, joint meds or the chiro. ( you didn’t think I was going to mention vets did you )
I don't want it to become endemic like many suggest, but folks look and demographics and look at the graphs. If this is the eradication plan and the graphs are on target then I would hate to see the graph if it wasn't working. (happy to supply you with my graph I keep daily)
Elizabeth Woolsey Herbert.
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