Hold a Thought for California Horses in the Fire's Path

by Fran Jurga | 30 August 2009 | The Jurga Report

This blog publishes a lot of advice and safety information about disasters and evacuation. My heart sinks every time an emergency situation affects horses and I wonder how well prepared people are.

That's the case today, with the California wildfires blazing in the hills outside Los Angeles. Tragically, two firefighters have been killed, caught in a fireball as they tried to escape.

Of course horse owners have been complying with evacuation orders. The Los Angeles Equestrian Center at Griffith Park was full by Saturday, and the latest order has horses being sent to Pierce College in Woodland Hills, which also hosted evacuee equines in 2007.

But my heart broke when I saw this image today in a gallery of startling fire images on the Charlotte Observor web site. The caption says that this two-year-old had not been trained to load onto a trailer so he was being pickup-ponied to safety. One can only wonder how many miles this horse had to travel and what shape his feet might have been in at the end of his journey. A horse trailer ramp might look pretty good after a few miles. With luck he had some protection for his hooves.

People are doing what they can for horses to get them out of the fire's path.

As of last night, this fire was only 5 percent contained. The area is particularly popular with horse owners. Rainbow Ranch, which is home to 60 horses, and the non-profit Animal Acres are two of the many horse facilities under evacuation orders. Animal Acres put out a call yesterday with a wish list for help: Trucks, trailers, pickup trucks with camper shells (for the birds), carriers for the birds (chickens, turkeys, etc.), large water bowls, people good with herding, animal soothers, bedding, food, water hoses. That's a pretty good list of priorities during a disaster, assuming they have some veterinary expertise and fresh water available as well. Animal shelters and rescue farms generally are not easy to move, and many animals in their care have special needs.

Oleander Attack: California Show Horses Recovering from Poisonous Leaves

Everywhere you turn this weekend, people are talking about the strange case of horse poisoning in California that hit the news on Friday. Almost all the horses at a top Saddlebred show horse facility were exposed to a toxic treat: the highly poisonous oleander shrub.

This is an example of one of the types of oleander. A popular novel, White Oleander by Janet Fitch, made oleander a household word in northern climes where it does not grow.

Here's what the International Society for Infectious Diseases at Harvard University says about oleander and the Rockridge Saddlbreds:

"Oleander (Nerium oleander) contains the cardioactive glycosides oleandrin and neriine. All parts of the plant are toxic, but these cardioactive glycosides are considered to be highest in the sap. It is extremely toxic and is reported to be bitter. Hungry animals will consume almost anything. But it is unlikely that apples and carrots disguised the bitterness of the oleander. It is more likely the animals were hungry and simply ignored the bitterness mixed in with the carrots and apples which were a nice treat.

"The plant is so toxic that using a leafless branch as a skewer to cook frankfurters over a fire has been known to poison the consumer of the frankfurter."

I checked on the frankfurter and that seems to be pretty much an urban legend, although it is thought that the fumes created could probably poison someone if the stick touching the meat didn't. I don't think anyone wants to test it out.

There aren't a lot of resources available on oleander poisoning, as I found out this weekend. First of all, many horseowner health reference books are written in Great Britain, where oleander would not be a concern. And within the United States, the shrub grows only in the southern states.

I did find a helpful chapter on oleander toxicosis in a veterinary textbook by Drs. Christopher M. Brown and Joseph J. Bertone. They say that it takes several hours for the symptoms to begin after the horse eats oleander, but that the dreadful list of symptoms includes colic, diarrhea, cardiac arrhythmia, tremors, seizure-like activity, coma, and death.

Perhaps it is fortunate that the poison wasn't slipped to the horses sooner, as their distress might have been further advanced by the time they were found.

This type of case is so confounding because you can't imaging why someone could have a grudge against a group of horses, or why someone would take out revenge against a human by attacking animals. And yet it happens. I think the Internet has added a lot to my stress level by exposing stories of violence against animals on a daily basis.

I know enough about crime situations to know that probably not all the facts could be released and that important details about the horses or their owners might be missing. Yet there's no doubt that it happened and no doubt that the police are trying to find out who would do this.

And why. Please find out why.

I am sure I speak for all the readers of this blog when I wish the Rockridge horses a speedy recovery. I'll hope to report on this story again, with some closure.

West Nile Virus: University of California Video Warns Horse Owners of Disease Risk

by Fran Jurga | 1 June 2009 | The Jurga Report



With an estimated 75 percent of the state's horses vaccinated against West Nile virus, you might think that the veterinarians and equine extension specialists at the University of California at Davis School of Veterinary Medicine would be patting themselves on the back for a job well done. In the state with as many horses as many other states combined, vaccinating over a half million horses is an incredible achievement.

And you can do the math on the financial impact!

But that's not the message of this dramatic video from the vet school. They'd like to see every horse in the state be vaccinated, including foals as young as three months. California's message is clearly that controlling West Nile virus in horses is a possibility.

Only mosquito-friendly Washington state had more cases of West Nile virus than California last year and this year's prevalence is largely dependent on weather conducive to heavy mosquito breeding, the spread of the disease by hosts, and the number of horses that are vaccinated.

Thanks to UCDavis for making it possible to post this video.

PS As a naturally curious person, I wonder about the impact of West Nile virus on the wild horse and burro population. Does anyone know?

Good News? Bad News? States Consider Tax Changes That May Affect Horses

Local news from across the USA is filled with budget cuts and new proposed revenue streams for state and local governments.

As horse owners struggle with increases in line by line expenses--fuel, feed, hay, vet services--the possibility of new taxes is another cause for concern.

Here are a few examples:

WASHINGTON: Back in September, the state caused confusion by saying that horse boarding facilities were not farms and were not eligible for agricultural tax status. Recently, the state agreed to re-consider.

According to the News Tribune in Tacoma, Ken and Jan Culliton, who own KCJ Farms in Tacoma, are among those who were recently asked to pay more. They said they received a notice in September that unless they start engaging in a legitimate agricultural activity, they’ll owe the King County Assessor’s Office $135,000 in current and back taxes. And that's just for this year.

Washington's Open Space Taxation Act was designed to help farmers keep their land and limit development. Now the state will decide if horse boarding conforms with the intent of that act. And the Cullitons are holding their breath.

Click here for more information from the state's Department of Revenue; a hearing is scheduled next week.

CALIFORNIA: Holy vet bills! The state of California has singled out veterinarians--along with furniture restoration and golfing--as a service that should be subject to state sales tax. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proposes a whopping 10.25% sales tax on vet services. Professional services are not normally taxed in California.

One horse professional I interviewed this week on this subject confided that this new tax would be a disaster to horse welfare in the state. "People are already cutting back on vaccinations," he said. "What the state might make on sales tax would be a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of managing an epidemic of one horse diseases or another."

The California Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) said that their lobbyist in Sacramento would "hit the ground running" the morning after this tax was proposed. A similar proposal in Minnesota was defeated, according to the CVMA.

The California Veterinary Medical Association is the largest state veterinary medical association in the United States, with more than 6,200 members.

Not much can be done when states raise sales tax across the board to raise revenue, but when changes like these are proposed on specific items or service providers, horse owners can unite and protest the changes. News items like these are reminders of why state horse councils, local horseowner groups, and communication networks between horse owners and agriculture and pet interests are so important.

Six Horses Burn to Death in Trailer Fire Sparked by Tire Blowout

There's a lot to be said for those truck cab video monitors.

Someone just sent me a very disturbing news story from California. It seems a truck was hauling a trailer with six horses in it, heading north from a horse show toward home in Oregon. The trailer blew a tire, but the driver didn't realize it. He drove for several miles before other motorists convinced him to stop because his tire was smoking...and the trailer was on fire. He finally pulled into a gas station, and the fire trucks came. All six horses died. Amazingly, the truck was not damaged.

The burning trailer also sparked several grass fires along the Interstate.

Click here to read the complete story from the Modesto Bee newspaper.

And please, check your tires every time you use your trailer. And look in the rear view mirror once in a while.

California Reports First Confirmed Case of West Nile Virus in Horses for 2008

The first positive equine case of West Nile Virus (WNV) in California in 2008 has been reported in Riverside County, southeast of Los Angeles. The affected horse, a 15-year-old Quarter horse gelding, died of WNV disease complications, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture today.

WNV is a mosquito–borne virus that was first detected in the United States in 1999 in the New York City area. It may cause a wide range of clinical illnesses from mild, "flu-like" symptoms to encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) that may be fatal to both humans and horses. While horses are susceptible to WNV, many horses infected with the disease will not develop any illness and will recover uneventfully. Currently, there is no specific treatment for WNV.

California became the focus for West Nile Virus in 2004 with 540 confirmed clinical equine cases. Over 40 percent of clinically affected horses died or were euthanized. However, in 2006 and 2007 there was a significant decrease in confirmed equine cases with 58 and 28 cases, respectively.

Signs of West Nile Virus in horses include stumbling, staggering, loss of coordination, muscle twitching, circling, and inability to stand. Birds serve as the primary reservoir for harboring the disease. Mosquitoes transmit the disease to humans and horses after feeding on infected birds. Once infected, horses do not spread the disease to other humans or horses.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture is urging horse owners to consult their veterinarian to ensure each horse is current on West Nile Virus vaccinations. It is also important to practice mosquito control methods to aid in reducing mosquito-breeding sites.

For more information on West Nile Virus in horses, visit http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/ahfss/ah/wnv_info.htm.

EHV-1 Surfaces Again at Racetracks in California

Dr. Rick Arthur, equine medical director for the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB), announced yesterday that two barns are under quarantine at Los Alamitos Race Course following the deaths of two horses from the Equine Herpes Virus (EHV-1). One was a stable pony and the other a racehorse. Lab results are pending on other suspected cases.

Elsewhere in California, a mare at Golden Gate Fields near San Francisco aborted a fetus, which subsequently tested positive for EHV-1, although the mare tested negative according to the CHRB. Biosecurity measures are in place at that track.