Strangles information pack available now
A horse sanctuary has issued an information pack on strangles after a fifth of its new arrivals in 2012 tested positive for the disease.
Redwings, the UK's largest horse sanctuary, has suffered at the hands of strangles disease significantly over the past year, therefore, has set out to raise awareness of ways to notice and tackle the disease quickly, in order to reduce its impact.
"Strangles: Speak Out!" is an information pack for horse owners, yard managers and show organisers, which includes guidance on the world's most commonly diagnosed equine infectious disease.
"Strangles is not only highly contagious and potentially life-threatening, but it carries a very unhelpful stigma with it amongst horse owners," said Rachel Angell, the sanctuary's Senior Welfare Coordinator.
"Some don't speak out even if they suspect a problem, and often we find there is a philosophy out there of, 'It will never happen to me'. In many cases it is only taken seriously when it's far too late, which makes it much more difficult to control within a yard and puts the horse through a very painful illness that could have easily been prevented."
Redwings, who has quarantine facilities and testing in place for new arrivals, is encouraging others to put measures in place and better understand strangles.
Rachel continued: "We want to remind owners that every horse, no matter its value or breed, is still at risk. This pack contains practical guidance on how you can minimise that risk as much as possible. We want to encourage everyone involved in working with horses to get talking about the disease, set up a simple quarantine process for every new arrival on a yard and be prepared should the worst happen so it is as straightforward and easy to manage as possible."
Click here to order your free copy of the strangles information pack, or phone 01508 481008.
With Strangles Awareness Week just around the corner (5-11 May), vets are being encouraged to share a survey about the disease with their horse-owning clients.
