Samesies. Fingers crossed for Waffles!!!
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Results should be in in about three more hours. The family is very appreciative of everyone’s good thoughts.
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Ugh. That’s going to be a long three hours. Fingers still crossed for everyone involved.
Fiercely jingling for Waffles and Gabby!
Jingle jingle jingle. Lets go Waffles! (Love that name)
I have followed this thread, and have a similar reaction.
Hopefully the test result is a 0 today for this poor horse and his connections.
Back to how educational this thread has been for others reading along goes, though. I learned quite a bit about glanders, testing, and the history behind the disease as well as more recent concerns with it. Additionally, multiple folks shared a few bits of practical wisdom stand out when it comes to importing horses that seem worth highlighting.
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(credit goes to Kathy Hobstetter on this point, who shared her professional experience after importing hundreds of horses in some comments on Facebook) In the unfortunate event an imported horse has issues with testing upon arriving in US quarantine, it’s wise to consider putting the horse on the very first available flight right back to the country it came from. The rationale (as I understood it reading Kathy’s comments) is that if quick action is taken, the horse can honestly and accurately be described as simply “failing to meet US import requirements.” The country that cleared the horse for export should then hopefully not have an immediate issue accepting the horse back right away. However, the longer someone waits to make this decision, with a horse sitting in quarantine going through additional testing, the greater the risk becomes that additional issues or symptoms or other problematic test results come into play.There is a risk that these sorts of issues can prevent the country of origin from accepting the horse back, because the horse now can not be so easily and readily labeled “healthy” but simply “failing to meet US Import requirements.” If symptoms arise… such as in this case when the horse briefly spiked a fever… the horse can easily get put in a position where it is indeed stuck in quarantine purgatory, with a very sad end for the horse
. Also, if a horse is shipped back immediately, it likely has the best chance of not being kept for a lengthy period of time in quarantine. Lengthy stays in quarantine facilities are not good for the mental or physical health of any horse. Finally, by shipping back to the country of origin expeditiously, hopefully arrangements can be made privately so that at the least part or even most of the total investment in the horse can be recovered. Either by working directly with the seller, or reselling the horse within its country of origin. A live horse, and partial recovery of the investment is better than the alternatives. -
Insurance policies pertaining to imported horses are complicated. People need to be aware, and approach this issue with eyes wide open, and ask lots of questions. In particular, it seems like differences in the CFT tests used in different countries were an issue in this case. Something else was mentioned either in this thread or the Facebook comments about the horse “having a pre-existing condition”… thus it wouldn’t be covered by insurance. These are good things to be mindful of and research thoroughly when importing.
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Agents working with clients interested in importing horses should have frank discussions about what can potentially go wrong, and have a few contingency plans in place should things go wrong. Having available funds ready to ship a horse back to the country of origin IMMEDIATELY seems a wise consideration to include as part of the total financial plan if someone is importing. I’m sure it’s a really stressful and tough call to make quickly after only one unfortunate test result… and I can’t imagine anyone wants to spend substantial funds immediately flying a horse back to where it came from. Additionally, every other horse on the flight over with this horse did have to stay in quarantine for a much longer period than initially anticipated simply because of this one animal’s problematic CFT result (at last that’s my understanding of things). This could happen to anyone, regardless of how perfectly you managed details with your own import situation. So make sure to have a financial plan in place to deal with an unfortunate situation such as this before importing… it can and does happen. By thinking these things through in advance, discussing with professionals, and financially planning for different possibilities… someone might be able to better manage stress and make a good decision quickly in the event they face a bad situation.
I do appreciate points many have made about frustrations with the problems with the tests used here yielding false positives, etc. And how inflexible certain government regulations and agencies can be. But a few folks who have specialized professional expertise have weighed in on this thread, and I think it’s best to refrain from criticizing USDA, Jet Pets, and anyone else directly involved in this situation at this point. We don’t know what we don’t know. Regulations and testing procedures may very well need to be updated, however, until that happens, folks should try and learn what they can from this situation.
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WA-FFLES WA-FFLES WA-FFLES. Comeon buddy, we want you outta there.
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Gah! I keep checking! I want a happy ending!
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Update: not the news we all wanted, unfortunately. Still testing “suspect”. Hard decisions are about to be made. The cost to fly back to Belgium is being quoted at $35,000 due to the quarantine requirements. Jet Pets is claiming $25,000 to euthanize and dispose. The family has run out of money and options.
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This poor horse and family. That’s absolutely awful.
I know all of COTH joins me in wishing test results had been different. So sorry for everyone involved family, friends, agents, and facility staff as well. I will remain hopeful that the young lady finds a way to continue riding.
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Nooooo! I am beyond heartbroken for all involved!
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Oh I’m so sorry to hear.
Very sorry about this sad news.
I’m so sorry about the results, for Waffles and for Gabby.
Jet Pets is claiming $25,000 to euthanize and dispose.
How can that even be? Surely that’s a crazy amount. How much do government facilities on the other coast charge in similar cases?
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What a sad outcome to a truly terrible story.
Ugh. So sorry for all involved.
I assume it is due to the horse being a biohazard? It seems awfully high to me.
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I am so terribly sorry to hear this news. Was so hoping the test would be negative. My heart breaks for everyone in this horrible situation. No one deserved this.
How devastating for all. I know there are always risks importing, but I have to imagine you have better odds of striking it big winning the lottery or being struck by lightening than going through an ordeal like this. So very sorry for the family and horse.
