My Friday Afternoon- Happy New Year

FRIDAY AFTERNOON - 4th Jan

I had a call from a NSW DPI person, first he confirmed my name,address,number of horses owned and the fact that my stud had indeed suffered from E.I.confimed by swabs and blood in October ' 07, when I did what was asked of all responsible horse owners and registered with the NSW DPI.

He then confirmed that my hoses are immune to E.I. .....
I held my breath waiting for the words "you are free to carry on with your business"..... NO SUCH LUCK!!!!!!

I still cannot move any horse out of the purple zone and because of my honesty I am NOT eligible for FREE MICROCHIPPING AND FREE VACCINATIONS WHICH I DON'T NEED AS MY HORSES ARE IMMUNE BUT DO NEED TO BE ABLE TO MOVE ANYWHERE OUT OF THE PURPLE ZONE.

If I had been like so many others and not registered with the NSW DPI I could have had my horses vaccinated and microchipped free of charge.......which they don't need, because they have immunity!
This virus has lived on my property now for 3 months.....I am going to submit this to the Guinness Book of Records.........

I can see the headlines now when my Equine Influenza Virus breaks all the records!!!!!!

Why are we putting up with this spin????

- Carmen Bajpe

Paperwork to Stamp out horse flu?

"Would see all horse owners in the special purple zone (which covers three percent of the State) complete a Travelling Horse Statement (THS) before moving horses.“It is now time to concentrate efforts on cleaning up the disease in the EI purple zone around Sydney, the Hunter Valley and Tamworth,” she said.“Our fight against this disease is moving into the purple zone with the ultimate view of stamping the disease out in this area once and for all."

I realise it was a long held belief that the female mind is inferior to that of the male.

BUT

Someone please help me. If paperwork is going to stamp out horse flu once and for all why didnt they start it from day one??????????????

Or do they mean it in the sense they are going to use all that paper to sop up all remaining virus in the atmosphere?


And if i hear once more that the only way it can be spread other than horse to horse is negligant bio security on the part of people Im going to go mad!

Dont the DPI read their own paperwork?

Surely they have copies of the Callihan Enquiry. "60 percent of the dogs tested were infected with EI and SHEDDING THE VIRUS"

My capitals not theirs.

Why was there never a lockdown on dogs issued or didnt they want to scare the ignorant masses?

Toowoomba Australia Day Showjumping Championships

Toowoomba Australia Day
Showjumping Championships 26th January 2008

Extended Closing Entry Date Now 15th January 2008

Entries now close on the 15th which will allow for some people to obtain there Resolved Property Status & or get their horses Immune Tested and obtain Certificate etc. Please refer DPI & F website for information & required forms www.dpi.qld.gov.au

The most important thing we need is a list of all horses that are to compete, their property (lotplan/PIC) identification, microchip number, immune certificate number and horse name. Also please include name of person in charge of horses & there contact number. This list will have to be sent to the DPI to get final approval to run the event.

For further information & copy of up to date program & nomination form, please contact Dave & Robyn Berman on 46 306646 or email bandcoot@tpg.com.au

EI Quarantine - Read my lips!

Letter to Mr.Ian MacDonald, Primary Industries Minister,

On the question of the Equine Influenza and the enduring 'Lock up' of non-racehorses.

As you may be aware, the word QUARANTINE derives from the Italian wordQUARANTA, meaning FORTY. The Venetians were the first to device this method of isolating suspected infected people for a period of FORTY DAYS. Thus the word QUARANTINE.

Other than for the racing sector, horses have now been locked up for almost SIX MONTHS. This suggests an assumption that equine influenza has taken firm 'residence' in Australia.

Most horse owners vaccinate horses against fatal diseases such as Tetanus and Strangles at their discretion, ie owners choose to vaccinate or not. Equine Influenza is not generally fatal and not really very different from human influenza. Indeed, horses which catch EI acquire a natural immunity to the disease for 4 to 5 years. Vaccinated horse do not benefit in this way and become instead vaccination dependent! They can still carry and shed the EI virus, infecting other horses, even though they may not show symptoms of the disease. Therefore, the decision to vaccinate or not should best be left to individual horse owners.

Obviously, many commercial and race horse enterprises will choose to protect valuable livestock by vaccinating in order to avoid unexpected interruptions of breeding and racing schedules, etc.

WHY THEN ARE WE STILL GOING ON WITH THIS QUARANTINE LOCK UP CHARADE?

Race horses are freely travelling back and forth. Special event horses are travelling back and forth. Do you really believe that strict 'quarantine' safeguards are being observed? As a seasoned politician you would not be so naive.

Let's cut this nonsense and deliver us, tens of thousands of ordinary non-commercial horse owners, from this unnecessary hardship.And we will be grateful next time round!

No doubt, some Vets are willing to prolong this nonsense in order to hang on to this nice new source of income for as long as possible, yessiree!!!!

Yours sincerely,
Natalie Raab

Equine Influenza!

I am fascinated to see so many varied views with the EI. EVERY horse person has their own personal story to tell. Some loss of horses, some loss of income, some loss of mind! Yet, the big picture has always centred around the Racing Industry and the likes!

So, why has all the MEDIA been totally made ‘hush-up’? What under-handed trash are we being fed!

Sure, DPI/government are doing what they think is best. But, it is truly the blind leading the blind!

We, the mere-little pleasure, hobby, trainers, performance, stock-workers, trail riders, horse lovers, etc, etc, have been totally kept silent and in the dark with all the so called ‘eradication’ programme that the DPI, and parties there-in.

Sure the changing of zones in some areas, have given little peace of mind to only a handful of Equine persons.

Personally, I am with the unlucky areas of RED zone...nothing happening here! Nothing told to us! We cannot even go outside the front gate with a horse/pony to let them graze on the grassed footpaths!

Trying to train Endurance Horses in this handed down protocol, is almost impossible. The horses are sour or bored (both), the owners and trainers are frustrated and anxious....but to the DPI, doesn’t matter!

Due to the fact that my animals had EI (early Oct 07), I ran the forms off the DPI website to get my horses vaccinated n micro-chipped, before the onslaught, (that will be on after the EI has been deleted!) It doesn’t tell you that animals that had EI won’t be vaccinated. So, my Vet is now coming out to take blood tests, micro-chip any horses likely to be leaving my property...ever...as the only thing they could suggest was get in now!

By the way, all costs are on my shoulders! As if it wasn’t enough that I have loss of income, loss of horse sales, loss of mind and Hair.....I swear, I will not let EI beat me up completely!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT!

JH

Re Movements in the purple zone

There seems to be a lot of confusion regarding the change to the purple zone. I include the relevant paragraph from the NSW DPI Bulletin below. There are NO movement restrictions, but we are simply required to fill out a form when we move a horse.

Clarification on movement requirements in the Purple zone

Some media outlets apparently reported that ‘permit’ would be required for movements in the Purple Zone from 14 January. It might seem a fine point, but movements will require a travelling horse statement’ (THS) rather than a permit. While permits need approval by NSW DPI, a THS is available immediately on-line, and does not require any action by NSW DPI before it is valid. People in the Green Zone have been using the THS system since September. Information collected from your THS will provide a basis for tracing horses in case of a flare-up of EI. In addition, the information about horse movements is needed to support the case for progressing the Purple Zone towards freedom from EI.

People without computer access can call the EI Hotline who will fill out the form and fax back the completed THS.

Michelle Hasibar

Open horse show? I don't think so!

First they take our show season,then they hold us to ransom.If the EFA is supposed to be supporting all horse owners,why the hell are they holding an OPEN horse show for EFA members only?

OPEN should mean just that - OPEN! My family and I have Young horses that are not showjumpers or dressage competitors. They're not even old enough! And because we don't exactly have a spare $1000 to pay for efa registration and membership we get tossed to the side. How can they say that they are trying to get shows back on for EVERYONE when they are only allowing their members to compete?

Everyone who wants to show knows that there are new rules in place and strict guidlines that must be followed. How are foals and yearlings supposed to be shown as foals and yearlings if there aren't any shows for them? The EFA needs to step up. Societies need to stop running scared. People are being deprived of a life. Kids are giving up on riding.

Horses are being left to waste away. As far as we know Victoria is EI-FREE, so what's the harm in starting shows now?

Emma