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This article was published in 1979
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Some Observations on the Destruction or Treatment of Burnt Stock in the Wake of Bushfires
S.N. Carroll, B.V.Sc., M.R.C.V.S. Veterinary Inspector, Yass
INTRODUCTION
On Tuesday, 13th February 1979 a number of disastrous bushfires occurred within the Yass Pastures Protection district, burning an estimated area of 35,000 hectares of grazing and farming country.
As well as tremendous damage to fencing, sheds and plant, and complete loss of pasture in the burnt area, an estimated 15,000 sheep, 500 cattle and a number of horses, goats, pigs and poultry died in the fires or were later destroyed due to severe burns suffered in the fires.
Soon after the fire near Yass commenced, I, in company with the Ranger, Yass, began examining stock left alive in the wake of the fire. We destroyed any animals I considered too severely burnt to survive, or were obviously suffering from the effect of severe burns. This examination was continued for four days after the fire and a total of 1,134 sheep and 20 cattle were destroyed by us. Most of these were destroyed on the first and second days, the rest of the time being spent assisting any landholders who requested help in the examination of their stock after they had preliminarily destroyed all severely burnt animals.
The involvement of Veterinary Inspectors and Rangers in the examination and destruction of burn stock is not often seen as their role. However, I feel that the Veterinary Inspector is probably the best qualified person in most districts able to supply the objective advice required by landholders at these times. As well, the Board is supplying a service to ratepayers by providing technical advice and assistance in the examination and destruction of burnt stock.
LEGAL ASPECTS:
The question regarding the legality of a Veterinary Inspector entering a property and destroying severely burnt stock has never arisen in my case, as I have always found that landholders are only too pleased to be given assistance at this time, especially when the the task is generally pretty gruesome. However, I have looked into the legal aspects of destroying burnt stock and I feel Veterinary Inspectors are completely covered by Section 12B (1) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1901, as amended.
This paragraph states, and I quote:&Mdash;
'12B(1): If an officer or a registered Veterinary surgeon finds any animal so diseased or so injured or in such a physical condition that, in his opinion, having regard to the means available for removing the animal, there is no possibility of removing it without cruelty and he is satisfied that the animal is mortally injured, or so severely injured, or so diseased, or in such a physical condition that it is cruel to keep it alive, the officer or the registered veterinary surgeon, if an officer is not present, may, without the consent of the owner of the animal if the owner is absent or refuses to consent to the destruction of the animal, slaughter the animal or cause or procure it to be slaughtered with such instruments or appliances, and with such precautions and in such manner as to inflict as little suffering as practicable, and if the slaughter takes place on any public highway remove the carcase or cause it to be removed therefrom.'
Section 12B (4) states:
'No compensation shall be recoverable against any officer or any registered veterinary surgeon in respect of the slaughtering of an animal under this section.'
This is the escape clause which prevents any landholder being able to challenge your opinion as to the suffering or injury of a burnt animal you have destroyed.
As far as actual right of entry to the property there are a number of Acts which can be used. The main two are the P.P. Act and the Stock Diseases Act. Section 157A of the Pastures Protection Act allows authorised officers to enter any land for the purpose of inspecting sheep. Section 7 (1) (a) of the Stock Diseases Act allows any Inspector, at any time, with or without assistants to enter any land for the purpose of inspecting stock.
Consequently, as I see it, any Veterinary Inspector, provided he is a registered Veterinary Surgeon, may enter any property on which there has been a bushfire, examine any of the stock and destroy any of the stock he considers are too severely burnt to survive or which it would be inhumane to keep alive, without obtaining prior permission of the owner. However, if the owner is able to be contacted easily, it would be good public relations to obtain his permission.
Salvage or Destruction:
Little work appears to have been carried out in the salvaging of burnt stock, prior to the Victorian Department of Primary Industries' leaflet released this year. Consequently, I decided to attempt to examine the degree to which stock can survive burns and what treatments aid their survival. I feel that generally many owners tend to destroy a lot more animals than need to be.
To examine the effects of treatment I used a small mob of survivors from a flock which had been severely decimated by the fire.
Observation of Methods and Results.
The mob consisted of 74 adult ewes and wethers. At the time of the fire these sheep were in excellent condition and were in full wool. They had all been mulesed using the modified mules technique.
The mob wąs divided into three groups:—
Group 1.
Minor burns to feet and lower limbs.
Group 2.
More severe burns to feet and lower limbs, with moderate burns to the prepuce in wethers and skin inside the escutcheon and axillary regions of ewes and wethers including udders.
Group 3.
Severe burns to the feet and lower limbs, prepuce in wethers, skin inside the escutcheon and axillary regions, and severe burns around the perineal area. In many instances the tip of the vulva had been burnt off.
Five sheep were destroyed on humane grounds due to severe burns around the head as well as other parts of the body and so were excluded from the trial.
Group 1. consisted of 41 sheep. These were not treated with antibiotics but were divided into two groups, one of which was foot bathed in 3% formalin and the other half treated with Stockholm tar on the feet.
Group 2. consisted of 19 sheep. 17 of these were treated with 8 mls. Vetspen plus intramuscularly. Again this group was divided into two further groups, one group being footbathed in 3% formalin, and the other being treated with Stockholm tar on their feet. 2 sheep were not treated with antibiotics.
Group 3. consisted of 9 sheep. All of these were treated with 8 mls, Vetspen plus intramuscularly and all were footbathed in 3% formalin.
In the first two weeks a total of 5 sheep died, and over the entire period of the observations a total of 12 sheep died. Unfortunately, two died whilst the owner was sick and a neighbour disposed of the dead sheep without keeping a record of which group the sheep belonged to. Three sheep died from blow-fly strike which in two cases was where the sheep had been burnt badly on the anus resulting in destruction of the anal sphincter allowing faecal material to continually stain the breech wool, and the other case was a severe body strike.
Results
| Group 1 Minor Burns |
Group 2 Moderate burns |
Group 3. Severe Burns |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Treatment | No A/B | A/B | No A/B | A/B |
| Number | 41 | 17 | 2 | 9 |
| Deaths | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| % | 9.8% | 11.6% | 0% | 11.1% |
| 5 sheep died from flies or group was unknown. (see above). | ||||
Discussion
Analysis of the results was not considered due to the low key manner with which the observations were carried out. However, what is considered more important are the observations made during the period.
Whilst the percentage of sheep from Groups 2 and 3 which died was higher than Group 1, it must be remembered that these animals were far more severely burnt than those in Group 1. In fact, at the time the trial commenced, the animals in Group I were felt to be little affected and should all have survived. Unfortunately, due to the owner's illness and other pressures on him, he did not report the deaths until well after the event, precluding the possibility of any post-mortems being carried out.
Another observation was that two weeks after the fire, those treated with Vetspen plus were noticeably less lame and more active than those not treated. There seemed to be little difference between the two foot treatments. However, due to the greater ease of footbathing in formalin to painting with Stockholm tar, footbathing was considered to be far more satisfactory as a treatment. Examination of the feet three months after the fire showed all feet to have healed well. The horn of the hoof had separated at the coronary band following the fire but new horn had grown down from the band, under the old horn, which had then been cast off.
The burns on the perineal region of all animals had healed completely. Two wethers, which had had severe burns of their anus resulting in destruction of the anal sphincter, were unable to control defaecation resulting in staining of the perineal wool. The biggest risk with those animals is their greater susceptibility to fly strike. Both of these animals were fat and in saleable condition and so were not a complete loss.
A small number of ewes, which had been severely burnt on the udder, had blind teats, although, with the majority the teats were still patent and most of these are now rearing lambs.
Destruction or Salvage?
This is a very difficult question to answer when examining burnt stock. To examine the question more fully I would divide the answer into two periods of examination:
1. Emergency Examinations
These occur in the period immediately after the fire has passed through a property. Destructions at this time are based mainly on humane grounds, stock being destroyed which are severely burnt and are in obvious extreme agony. Signs to look for are:
* charring of body tissues, whether legs, head or body,
* flame inhalation resulting in acute interstitial pneumonia. This is shown by laboured breathing, frothing at the mouth and coughing
* coma [?] or severe depression,
* animals down and unable to rise.
Remember with sheep that if they are close to full wool the outside of the fleece can be charred And yet the skin can be completely unsinged. Consequently, if the sheep are only burnt on the flanks and appear all right otherwise, do not destroy them at this stage but leave them for further examination later.
2. Delayed Examinations
These are carried out over the days following the fire. For a proper examination of burnt stock it is necessary to yard them, if possible, and in case of sheep, each animal should be turned up.
Look for severe burns to the head, especially the eyes and mouth, and perineal region. If the anal sphincter is burnt then it is possibly better to destroy the animal as it will be highly susceptible to fly strike.
Examine the stock in the axillary region, inside the thighs and the escutcheon. If the skin is severely burnt in these regions with splitting of the skin then the animals too should probably be destroyed as they are unlikely to be able to walk for feed.
Animals burnt on the feet and lower limbs will survive provided that there is no charring. However, it is imperative that stock burnt in this way have easy access to good feed. If necessary they should be hand fed.
Don't destroy animals simply because their udders are burnt as they will survive and even if the teats are blind, the animal will still be worth good money in the saleyards.
There are problems with wethers severely burnt on the prepuce as often scab formation can block the opening and the animal then dies of uraemia. If salvaging wethers, it is better to keep them separate from ewes so that a close eye can be kept on them for signs of blockage.
Conclusion:
The main thing for survival of burnt stock is good nursing. Don't make recuperating animals walk long distances for feed or water. In fact, for the first week or so they will not be particularly interested in feeding and so should have access to good, high quality feed.
Treat all burnt animals with long acting penicillin and, if possible, walk sheep through a weak formalin foot-bath (3-5%) every three to four days for the first fortnight.
Full recovery of surviving animals takes two to three months.
Further Reference:
K. Coghill, Saving Burnt Livestock (1979) Victorian Department of Agriculture, Agdex 400/29