Title: Heroic Horse Rescues Amidst Devastating Floods in NSW Hunter Region
Jess Yates was asleep on her property in the NSW Hunter region when she received a distressing call. The owner of Hunter River Horse Agistment at Millers Forrest, east of Maitland, was told by her neighbour that a horse was in the water.
"I threw clothes on really, really quickly, jumped in our boat and just went out to the middle of the paddock and it was caught up in a lot of the [electric] tape fencing that we have," Ms. Yates said. "You can see the horse going under and doing circles as it gets caught up in more rope."
The horse owner said she jumped into action. "I just didn’t think, I just knew I had to get in the water and cut it [out] and get it back up so its head’s above water and then get it up to dry land," she said.
The Hunter and Mid North Coast, which have been heavily impacted by flooding, are significant horse breeding, training, and agistment regions. Helicopters were used at the weekend to fly fodder in and rescue large animals. But the livestock death toll is rising, with the most recent figure at 1,000.
Stories of dramatic rescues have started surfacing as the flood recovery progresses. Craig Ruttley is based at Glenthorne Park Thoroughbreds, just south of Taree, where he breeds thoroughbreds. He said he had heard of horses being washed away but managed to rescue all 45 of his.
"I was actually swimming out, grabbing horses and swimming with them to bring them up," he said. "They wouldn’t go through the water unless you went with them … we got them all up to the highest ground possible." Mr. Ruttley said he was one of the lucky ones. "There definitely have been horse casualties from the floods," he said. "You know there’s a poor little girl out there who goes to pony club that’s lost her best friend."
The NSW government has so far received more than 200 requests for emergency fodder, with 21 tonnes delivered by aerial drop as of Monday afternoon. The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, along with Local Land Services, have about 80 people available to respond.
Vets from Local Land Services have been helping with animal assessment, treatment, and euthanasia on welfare grounds and carcass disposal. Mr. Ruttley said the flood has been devastating and people would need a lot of support. "It’s [been] chronically … wet over here for a long time and then to get this flood it’s just unimaginable," he said. "I’ve got friends down the road … they’ve lost their house, they’ve lost their cars, they’ve lost their pets, they’ve lost everything."
Ms. Yates said the flood would be a big setback for her business as well. "We were building brand new stables out here, they’ve floated away," she said. "I’m assuming there’s going to be a hay shortage as well which is going to be a problem for us to feed our horses. They’re not going to be able to eat this grass for a little while because it’s been sitting under floodwaters for so long."
People can get assistance with fodder and stock water if there is an immediate animal welfare concern, as well as aerial support for isolated or stranded livestock and advice on how to care for animals in flood conditions. People affected by the floods can also apply for a disaster recovery allowance. The number for Local Land Services for people affected by the NSW floods is 1800 814 647.
