Had to laugh.........

Not meaning to be a knocker of the TB industry but had to laugh when I checked out the Vic DPI website...... our club is looking at running some events in the upcoming months and I nearly choked on my sandwich when I read the following:

Organisers can start planning and holding horse events, because there are encouraging signs that the EI epidemic is close to an end.
But despite the very low risk of EI being detected outside restricted areas, we must remain vigilant.
Organisers should consider developing contingency plans that prepare them for a possible standstill, should one be declared. The risk of a standstill is minimal, but until EI is completely eradicated we shouldn’t become complacent.
Though the extraordinary biosecurity measures in place for the racing industry have been reduced, you should look to the racing industry’s standard procedures as examples of ‘best practice’ measures.


Every race meeting I have attended since the out break of EI, I have been constantly astounded by the seemingly lack of 'extraordinary biosecurity measures in place for the racing industry', I have no doubt that they are ticking all the boxes but appart from abit of fencing life goes on as normal. If our club can use the meeting I've been to as an example this is going to be EASY!!

Sally F.

NSW 91% EI-Free White Zone

Meanwhile the NSW Department Of Primary Industries announced NSW is "one step closer to the goal of being free of equine influenza by the end of March, with the Red & Amber Zones further cut & interstate horse movement restrictions eased". NSW chief veterinary officer Bruce Christie noted: "This significant step means thousands of horses locked down since August 25, or unable to move interstate, can begin moving again. And horses within the new White Zone can now be moved over state borders more easily, following the down-grading of the Green Zone infection risk to the same level as interstate EI-free areas. With no new EI infections detected this year & only 4 infected properties remaining in NSW, widespread testing is continuing to prove we haven't missed anything & that we are approaching freedom." Christie added the risks "in some Amber Zone areas in the State's north-west, northern tablelands & lower north coast have been downgraded & those areas moved into the new White Zone; in addition, the degree of risk in previous Red Zones at Armidale & Grenfell has been scaled back to Amber following confirmation that horse flu has burnt out in these areas. A total of 91% of NSW is now in the White Zone, the Amber Zone has been reduced from 9% of the State to just 4% & Red Zone has been cut to less than 2%."

Hong Kong Green Light For Aust Imports

Hong Kong's Agriculture, Fisheries & Conservation Department has been given the green light for importation of racehorses from Australia to HK to resume & 2 batches of thoroughbreds bound for Sha Tin are currently in quarantine in Melbourne awaiting shipment. The 1st group of 12 privately purchased horses & griffins (arriving tomorrow February 5) has been stranded in Australia since the Equine Influenza outbreak in August 2007. The 2nd group of 14 horses (arriving in HK in mid-February) involves 12 for the HK International Sale Part 2 & 2 for the Subscription Griffin ballot (after the HKIS on March 15 at Sha Tin). HK Jockey Club executive director of racing William Nader commented: "We are delighted the effect of the Equine Influenza virus has run its course in Australia & soon we can return to our normal import protocols. At the start of the current season 40% of the HK racehorse population is Australian-bred; last season we imported over 120 racehorses from Australia. These figures illustrate how vital these shipments are to our industry & it has been 6 months since our last import. It will be great to get things back to normal." Imports from Australia will initially depart only from Melbourne (an Equine Influenza-free area). Those based in NSW or Queensland must first enter quarantine in their home state, before entering pre-export quarantine in Victoria & eventually shipping to HK. Direct shipments from Sydney will recommence at a date to be decided by the HK agricultural authorities.

Australians may be out for count in Beijing

AUSTRALIAN sport is facing a drubbing at the Olympic level unless there is urgent reform of the way sport is funded and administered.
Senior sports administrators have told The Sunday Age that, at best, Australia might salvage a haul of 42 medals in Beijing — down from the record 58 in Sydney and 49 in Athens — and the tally could slip to below 30 at the 2012 London games.
In her first interview since being appointed federal Sports Minister Kate Ellis has acknowledged that there are "major challenges" facing sports administration and funding, which she pledged to address quickly.
"We need to take a very close look at who is taking responsibility for sports funding, the different roles being played by federal, state and local governments," Ms Ellis said.
"We need to get all the key stakeholders together, work out where the gaps are, and develop a unified long-term goal.
"It's a case of other countries pouring money into elite sport, and basically looking at what Australia has been doing and taking our approach."
The Australian Sports Commission deputy president, Sydney broadcaster and former Wallabies coach Alan Jones, has told The Sunday Age that Australian sport is suffering from a combination of factors.
"Firstly, the Howard government failed, in our view, to commit the sort of money we have been asking for several years and there is no doubt we are suffering from that," Jones said.
"But other serious challenges are that countries overseas are just spending so much more money funding sports that we are slipping behind.
"We are also finding that our coaches are being pinched, and we will struggle to fill the vacuum left by the departure of top multiple medal winners like Ian Thorpe. Those sort of sportsmen don't come along every day."
It was becoming much more expensive to ensure Australian athletes were competing at the top levels, Jones said.
A looming embarrassment for Australian sporting fans is the prospect of being trounced by Britain, where sports authorities are to spend about $21 billion to host the 2012 games.
In contrast, the Australian Sports Commission received $193 million from the Federal Government last year and was able to raise $24.4 million in revenue from sources such as sponsorship and hire of facilities.
From that pie, the Australian Institute of Sport receives 21%, sport performance and development programs 37%, and active after-school communities programs receive 20%.
The Australian Olympic Committee, which receives no government money, will have invested about $33 million over the past four years getting the Australian Olympic team to Beijing.

Differences in flu protocols hamper Gai

CHAMPION trainer Gai Waterhouse has savaged government authorities over the protocols put in place to facilitate the transfer of horses between NSW and Victoria following last year's equine influenza outbreak, which will grossly limit her participation at Victoria's autumn festival.

Waterhouse will be restricted to just one runner, Dance Hero in the $1 million Newmarket Handicap at Flemington on March 8, because of the difference between horses that were infected with equine influenza and those that escaped the disease last year.
"It's a joke," Waterhouse said.
"The DPI (Department of Primary Industry) should be ashamed of themselves.
"They insisted all the horses be inoculated and then take up to three weeks to move them. It's absolutely crazy.
"It's impossible to get horses like Kingda Ka to Melbourne for the Australian Guineas. They are stuck in quarantine for three weeks because they never got equine influenza.
"Horses like Dance Hero, that have had EI, can be there in a couple of days. He'll be my only representative.
"The paperwork is just enormous and one department says one thing, while another says something else. It's tragic.
"Why shouldn't these horses be allowed to travel. They've been inoculated.
"I've put it in the 'too hard' basket. Hopefully it will be different in the spring.
"Let's move on. It is 2008 and we need to get up and going."

Read the full story

Heartbreaking but rewarding job for saviour

FOR 16 years Laura Stoikos has been saving racehorses from the slaughterhouse.
As president of the Cedar Springs Horses Inc, she has helped rescue about 5000 horses since discovering her favourite racehorse had been sent to the abattoir in 1991.
"But that is nothing compared to the hundreds of thousands that have been killed since we started, but every saved horse counts," she said.
After realising that most ex-racehorses were being put to death when they no longer served their racing purpose, she vowed to do something about it and to give these horses a second chance.
Cedar Springs takes the racehorses and gets them new homes across the country.
Some have been malnourished or mistreated but all are rehabilitated before being sent to new homes.
"The horses can be re-educated and they can make wonderful companions and can be ridden," she said.
"It is a very heartbreaking job but also a very rewarding job.
"I just couldn't sit by and watch these beautiful animals killed for no reason."
One horse was found starving in a paddock, another was simply "not fast enough" for racing.

Racehorses for dinner

RACEHORSES are ending up on dinner plates overseas as the gruesome trade in horse flesh booms.
Figures obtained by The Sun-Herald show 2000 tonnes, or $8.5million worth, of horse and donkey meat was exported from Australia from January to November last year.
"You can literally be watching a racehorse run at Randwick on the Sunday and the next week it is on its way to a dinner table in Japan," horse welfare advocate Laura Stoikos said.
There are two abattoirs that export horse meat for human consumption - in Queensland and South Australia.
There are also 33 licensed knackeries in Australia that produce horse meat for pet food sold locally.
Of the 17,000 thoroughbreds born last year only about two-thirds will ever make it to the racetrack.
Of those, most suffer injuries or do not run fast enough and only about 1 to 3 per cent make it to top events.
The biggest importers of our horse meat are Japan - where raw horse is a delicacy - Russia, Belgium and France.
America is also another big consumer of our horses and last year imported 20,717 kilograms of meat.
The US has been embroiled in controversy about the slaughter of its own horses for consumption, with celebrities such as Bo Derek joining a campaign to stop horses from being slaughtered for meat in Canada.
Activists say a new ban on horse meat in all US states has led to animals being sold at American auctions, then trucked across the borders to be slaughtered for meat which is exported mostly to Europe.
"Horses are never bred to be eaten. They're not even beasts of burden anymore, those are the old days," Derek said. "They're beautiful animals, used in sport and as companion animals."
As with cattle and other livestock, the most desired horse meat comes from younger animals in good condition and with quality muscle, and that means young thoroughbreds.
Queensland vet Eva Berriman said young horses still in their prime were being killed for human consumption.
She said a lack of records from the selling agents and no proper identification system for horses made it hard to trace where the horses came from.
"But even in the absence of documented figures, the finger must be pointed firmly at the racing industry, which has a very high attrition rate of fine quality, well-muscled horses still in their prime often with no road open to them except to a horsemeat abattoir," Ms Berriman said.
There is only one organised horse welfare group in Australia, Cedar Springs Horses Inc, that rescues thoroughbreds destined for the slaughterhouse.
Miss Stoikos runs the not-for-profit organisation and said the treatment of the doomed horses was horrific. "They are trucked in like cattle in the dead of night," she said.
"They can smell the blood and they are killed one after another and they can see the horse in front of them killed so they know what is going on.
"People get upset when they see a racehorse break down on the track that has to be shot but for every one of those horses there are thousands before it that never make it that far."
Miss Stoikos said the industry needed to be regulated to stop the "backyard breeding" mentality of horse studs.
"At the moment there is no limit to the number of thoroughbred foals that are born," she said.
"There should be a licence system to stop these studs churning out foals that all end up being killed.
"The racing industry really turns its back on what happens to the horses."

Border horse restrictions ease

Restrictions on the movement of horses between Victoria and New South Wales ease significantly today.
A ban on bringing horses across the Murray River was introduced after an equine influenza outbreak last year.
From today, those wanting to bring the animals into Victoria from "white zones" in NSW need to carry a permit with them at all times.
Victoria's chief vet, Dr Hugh Millar, says while the manning of border crossings by private guards ends today, some restrictions remain in place.
"What's important is that we do know when horses are moving and where they've gone to and from, and that is just a precautionary measure in case we do need to follow-up suspicious situations or whatever," he said.
"So people are required to get ... what we call a 'Victorian Horse Entry Declaration'."

Horse flu classifications ease

The Department of Primary Industries (DPI) says significant parts of north-west New South Wales have had their equine flu classifications scaled back.

The degree of risk in the previous red zone of Armidale has been reduced to amber.
The DPI's deputy chief vet, Ian Roth, says there are also major changes around Gunnedah and Narrabri.
"A lot of that area was amber and a lot of that area has now moved to white, in fact the old green zones have moved to white and that reflects the fact that this area is now basically in tune with other states," he said.

Comment on John Messara at it again (From November posting)

Maureen,
I have worked directly with John Messara for the past 7yrs, and know him very well. He has become one of the most influential TB industry leaders through sheer hard work, committment, and passion. Positive changes in our industry are made BECAUSE of people like John Messara and we are fortunate to have people with his foresight, drive and integrity involved. Yes he has close associations with very influential people, but they haven't just happened. He has had to work at it like everyone else. Quit bagging the successful people - he has EARNED his success. Obviously he is looking out for the interests of his particular TB organisations, but they benefit the WHOLE industry. He is not the only NSW breeder wanting to sell yearlings at Melb Premier Sale. But had you also considered the fact that the whole sale (Inglis) would have suffered if NSW yearlings were unable to attend. This would then bring the sale figures down, etc etc..
I know this EI situation is frustrating for everyone, however John Messara is someone who is trying to get things done.
In addition - the 'welfare situation' you refer to in a previous blog - don't comment on things you know NOTHING about. The particular farm the mares had to be moved from, had absolutely no foaling facilities available and was strictly an agistment property. The mares were heavily in foal and NEEDED to be moved.
Go and find someone else to bag, maybe Paris Hilton who is really a waste of space. John Messara is on OUR side!!!