PHOTO: Hayley Sheehan of the Latrobe-based Tasmanian Horse Transport says it’s about time people were told what happened.
SUPPLIED: TASMANIAN HORSE TRANSPORT
Tasmanian horse transporter calls on authorities to reveal what killed 16 ponies
The director of a Tasmanian horse transport business has confounded authorities for not releasing information about what caused the deaths of 16 polo ponies that travelled on a truck across Bass Strait.
A month has passed since the deaths of these ponies — during their journey between Devonport on the Spirit of Tasmania ferry, and a rural Victorian property. There is now growing pressure to release details about the case for public interest.
Hayley Sheehan from the Latrobe-based Tasmanian Horse Transport said:
“We’re finding some people will not sell a horse to Tasmania, and some people will not buy a horse in Tasmania, because there’s this uncertainty, this cloud hanging around as to what happened to these 16 horses,” she said.
Hayley said she has been inundated with inquiries from horse owners worried about their animals crossing Bass Strait.
Ms Sheehan said Tasmanian businesses were suffering, and the sector deserved answers.
“Who’s at fault? Why did they die? I’m quite sure by now the authorities would have a clear understanding of why they died, and I think it’s about time that the horse industry in Tasmania found out exactly what went wrong.”
Tasmania’s Department of Primary Industries (DPIPWE) is leading the multi-agency investigation into the ponies’ deaths. The investigation is involving veterinarians at the Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga in New South Wales, the Victorian Department of Agriculture, and the Australian Marine Safety Authority.
Late on Tuesday, DPIPWE issued a statement saying that at this stage of investigations, the deaths of the horses appear to be an “isolated incident”.
DPIPWE said said the movement of horses across Bass Strait was considered safe, “in line with animal welfare regulations and TT Line’s conditions of carriage when transporting horses”. They have also said they have pathology reports and was continuing investigations.
“While it is apparent this was an isolated incident, no information received to date points to a clear cause of mortality, the statement said.
“Some laboratory results that normally take extra time are expected to be received soon and may or may not contribute to understanding a cause.”
Autopsies have been carried out a number of weeks ago. The driver of the truck was high-profile and national polo identity Andrew Williams. He drove the dead animals to the property. The the institution is not commenting.
The competion at Barnbougle Polo, near ridport.
Photo: Facebook Barnbougle Polo
The results now lie with DPIPWE, and Mr Williams’ legal team.
Mr Williams said at the time, discovering the dead horses was his worst nightmare.
“Within an hour of leaving the boat, I had 16 horses that were cold dead and two fighting to survive,” he said soon after the event.
“I just went into survival mode for the surviving two, and after offloading them in Yarra Glen, I was on the road with the 16 dead polo ponies to Wagga Equine Hospital.
“No-one should go through what I have recently gone through. I am just trying to stay busy, but it’s there, and I can’t see it going away until we have some answers.”
After releasing a statement to the ABC in the week after the ponies died, Mr Williams has yet to comment further.
As the deaths occurred outside the state and “there was no evidence of infectious disease”, the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries said it was therefore not part of the ongoing investigation.
The operator of the Spirit of Tasmania, TT Line, will not comment. Except to point out the initial investigation was “satisfied that the vessel appears to have complied with AMSA requirements relating to the carriage of livestock”.
There is now a cloud hanging over the leisure horse market.
Ms Sheehan transported 70 horses on the ship in the past week, after the Magic Millions yearling sale and ahead of Wednesday’s Launceston Cup.
She said while it was largely “business as usual” for her operation, the leisure horse market was being severely affected by the lack of information.
“People regard their horses like a child. They would do anything for them and they spend stupid amounts of money on them and people are concerned about this,” Ms Sheehan said.
“They’re concerned about why it happened and how they can avoid it.
“Until they release what the cause of death is and why they died, there’s this big cloud hanging over travel on Bass Strait.
“We’re getting to wits end with people ringing up constantly and going, ‘is my horse going to be OK on Bass Strait?’
“There’s too much unknown going on. I think there are too many people trying to protect their backside.”
There are a lot of people in the horse community who want to know what happened.
Source: The ABC (Peta Carlyon).
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