With wild fires racing through several areas and toronados, floods and other disasters occurring often, the importance of disaster planning should be a high priority for all horse owners.
Disaster preparedness for horse owners
In the event of a disaster it is for you as a horse owner to have pre-planned actions and information to make rapid decisions that may save your horse’s and even your own life.
The devastating fire in Arizona where a sudden wind-whipped fire killed 19 fire fighters and threatened a community, coupled with the EF5 tornado that shattered Moore, Okla., on May 20, 2013 forever changed the lives of many people and their animals.
Although the toronado that struck in Oklahoma was devastating, the effects in an area heavily populated with horses in Moore Oklahoma were somewhat mitigated by an effective disaster plan.
The state’s level of preparedness meant plenty of volunteers and state and federal personnel to respond in Moore. Dr. Hall attributed his colleague, Dr. Debbie Cunningham, with working hard over the past few years encouraging people to sign up for the Veterinary Medical Reserve Corps and their county animal response teams.
The oldest of those teams was called in early by the county animal control coordinator, who brought in several veterinarians. State veterinarian Dr. Rod Hall said, “The area where it hit was mainly horse farms.
Around 60 horses were hauled out of that area and taken to veterinary clinics or facilities, but a number of horses were injured severely and had to be euthanized. Close to 160 horses didn’t survive. We had a number of equine practitioners who were involved early.”
One of them was Dr. Michael Wiley. “The tornado was about 5 miles from us,” he said. “Unfortunately, it went through a big swath of my practice area.”
When he heard about the tornado on the radio while on a call east of the stricken area. he started working his way toward Celestial Acres Training Center, where he knew 120 horses were in training. “When I finally got in, nothing was left,” he said. “Quite a few horses were still standing; most were beyond help."
"I had six or seven bottles of euthanasia solution. A small animal veterinarian was walking by, and I got five or six more bottles from her.”
Dr. Wiley sent her to attend to 40 other horses before heading back to his clinic, Equi-Center Veterinary Hospital in Norman, with an injured horse. Clients were calling, trying futilely to make their way to his clinic with trailers carrying their injured horses, so Dr. Wiley drove as close as possible to the disaster area and transported two loads back to his clinic.
At last check, Dr. Wiley still had a few dozen horses in his care, and the outcomes of some of them remained uncertain. “That’s the amazing thing about a tornado: you find things keep popping up on them that you didn’t notice at first,” he said.
He said some individuals have donated to help offset owners’ bills for their horses. “A lot of people don’t have anything. For some of them, this is the only thing they have left.”
An AAEP Health Brochure lays out some important points related to disaster preparedness:
In the event of a disaster, your veterinarian knows how important it is for you as a horse owner to have pre-planned actions and proper information to make rapid decisions that may save your horse’s and even your own life.
Assess your risks and how they will affect your horses
What are the most likely disasters in your area? (flood, fire, tornado, hurricane, nuclear accident, disease threat, chemical spill, ice storm, etc.) For each type disaster, check:
- What are your major vulnerabilities?
- What can you do to minimize the damage?
- What plans do you have in place?
- Who do you need to contact?
Prepare an emergency kit for a minimum of 72-hour care, which includes:
- Plastic trash barrel with lid
- Tarpaulins
- Water buckets
- First aid items
- Betadine or Nolvasan solutions
- Antibiotic ointment
- Gauze squares and bandages
- Ichthammol ointment (feet)
- Tranquilizer injections (optional)
- Eye ointment
- Portable radio, flashlight and extra batteries
- Fire resistant, non-nylon leads and halters
- Knife, scissors, wire cutters
- Duct tape
- Livestock markers or paint
- Leg wraps
- Lime and bleach/disinfectant
Develop a buddy system
Talk with a neighbor or friend and make arrangements to check on each other after a disaster. Tell one another if you are evacuating and to where, so authorities will know.
Buddies may agree to pool resources, such as generators, water tanks, trailers, etc. Permanently identify each horse by tattoo, microchip, brand, tag, photographs (front, rear, left and right side) and/or drawing.
If disaster strikes before you can do this, paint or etch hooves, use neck or pastern bands, or paint your telephone number or last four digits of SSN on the side of the animal.
When disaster strikes, remain calm and follow your plan! Remember it is vital to be able to leave early in any mandatory evacuation to avoid getting stalled in traffic and create unnecessary hardships.