Horses struggling through drought in race against time to keep them alive
A woman has made an urgent appeal to have horses living on drought-ravaged land rescued as the animals face certain death if they aren’t saved.
Packs of brumbies in the Queensland outback near Warwick, 130 kilometres southwest of Brisbane, have grown increasingly malnourished amid dry conditions, forcing them into a fatal race against.
“This is a plea for help on behalf of these ponies and horses that are running out of time. Due to the ongoing drought, it is the end of the line for these beautiful beings,” Kendall Moore wrote to her GoFundMe page.
She said the property owner had no option but to shoot the “gorgeous creatures” to save them the trauma of continuing to live in such dire conditions.
Alternatively they could be “trucked for six hours to be run up a race and stunned to death”, given they were no use on the land where there was no feed and little water.
The “starving and mostly unhandled” horses and ponies were a mix of brumbies, quarter horses and stock horses, Ms Moore said.
“These horses have been doing it tough for a very long time, the young ones have known nothing else.”
Despite there being a huge number of visibly starving horses requiring a long rehabilitation if they are to survive, Ms Moore has not given up hope.
After launching a fundraising page in July, support flooded in from the public which saw donations of food and water come in for the horses.
A group of 15 male horses have also since been transported to a station in Stanthorpe where they have begun training to eventually be adopted.
When the first group have been adopted into new homes, Ms Moore plans to transport the others in truckloads to be rehabilitated and re-homed.
Prospective future owners have been asked to submit an application form indicating their suitability, with them to pay a $150 adoption fee if successful.
The animal’s progress can be tracked on the Facebook page Many Mouths.
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