Warmblood Import Nightmare

I have not read every post but I would hire the best litigator in the area and sue everyone involved for actual and punitive damages and legal fees . I’d find the lawyer who represented Tom Selleck in his horse lawsuit and hire that guy. Hire him now.

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It’s not that simple. Yes they own the horse. But these quarantine facilities are a kind of limbo or purgatory: the horse is yours, but you have little control. As others have said, you can’t even see the horse unless you happen to know when it’s going to arrive at the facility, which is located at the edge of the airport, and peer at it through a chain link fence. At least you used to be able to do that.

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Noting that this is the same quarantine facility that released a mildly symptomatic horse they probably shouldn’t have who then proceeded to transmit flu to my immunized, but not exposed to European flu, horse.

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In some cases antibiotics will treat clinical symptoms but not actually stop the shedding of bacteria. Not sure if this horse has clinical symptoms to treat. If he has no clinical signs the only harm being done by withholding antibiotics is getting him out of quarantine faster. If he is truly positive do you really want this horse’s clinical tests to come up falsely negative and him show up at big A show spreading Glanders? The USDA’s job is to protect herd health not individual horses and their people.

I agree there seems to be poor communication occurring here but it seems much of this information we’re getting is 3rd or 4th or 5th relayed information.

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Reading some of these replies, wonder if some posters don’t understand quarantine means behind locked gates with nobody but staff and the pre approved vet allowed inside. Owners cannot even get to see their own horse. Might be some misunderstanding In those who have not been involved in import or serious, contagious disease induced barn quarantine and the protocols that go along with it.

Lots of hoops to jump through.

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Well it looks like UC Davis is out. The USDA won’t approve it, even though it’s a CEM quarantine facility for mares and stallions. There doesn’t appear to be anywhere in California to move the horse that the USDA will approve. Anyone know of any quarantine/isolation stalls in the LA area? The USDA already rejected a vet hospital in Chino and won’t do San Luis Rey as it’s too far for the USDA vet to travel to daily.

Can they ask the USDA where they will release the horse to?

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The USDA vet has told them they have to find an isolation stall somewhere, and then they will determine whether or not they will approve it.

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Good lord! And UC Davis doesn’t measure up? I would honestly suggest they ask the USDA where they have approved isolation stalls in the past. Make them tell them.

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😱🗑🤦🏼”â™€ï¸ðŸ¤¯

LAEC has some, at least they did several years ago. I’m not sure they’d meet the standards, but they were used whenever there was a contagious horse on the premises.

Equine law attorney Paul Husband worked on the Selleck case with the Selleck’s primary attorney.
https://www.husbandlaw.com/

They won, by the way.

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I have nothing useful to add, but omg this is insane and sounds like an absolute nightmare.

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if that’s the case the USDA should be able to suggest where a stall would work for them as it has in the past. The ownership is trying their best to find a suitable location and the USDA keeps denying it. So does the USDA just want them to kill the horse? The USDA should be able to provide a list of locations that they find suitable. Instead they are leaving it up to the ownership of the horse who has very little experience with the ins and outs of imports and whats available.

This is sickening and it is sad. Call Sellecks’s Lawyer and let it roll

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OP- I do not understand why the USDA can not approve, especially since it is a approved facility for other import issues (CEM). Can you or the family try to contact them directly?

https://ceh.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/quara…acility-photos

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Sellecks lawyer might not be in the budget…

Actually get not wanting UCD, that’s a couple hundred miles through primarily agricultural areas. How about the racetracks? Los Alamitos is quite close to LAX and there should be a suitable clinic either at or close to the track. LAEC should have access to one through their vets.

What exactly has the USDA said and who have they spoken to? Has OP personally been involved in conversations with USDA or contacting anybody or calling every vet clinic in the county? What was their objection to Chino? Where did all the foreign based Breeders Cup horses flying in to race at Santa Anita a couple of months ago stay?

Where do the mares that need extended quarantine go? They don’t stay at the airport receiving facility, least those I am familiar with have not. They went to another secure facility before the van ride to their new home. Know somebody who was operating one of those down in South Florida. Won’t help these people but there’s got to be something similar in So Cal.

If he’s getting the treatment now, perhaps it will resolve the situation.

You can buy domestically and do everything right and have a 5 figure vet bill,or even a dead horse, within a week of delivery. Just have to be ready for anything with horses,.

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A lot of TB farms have hospital stalls and quarantine areas, but I imagine they are currently pretty full for foaling. You might contact Bella Cavelli Farms (sp?) in Santa Ynez. If nothing else they may have a location referral.

I hope that they can get this sorted, but please keep in mind that glanders is a serious ZOONOTIC disease that can be spread by aerosols. People who get infected can die if they aren’t treated appropriately. It has even been used as a biological weapon. The control measures needed are not at all equivalent to a CEM quarantine, even with the uncertainty that the horse is actually infected. With a non-negative test result it is prudent to handle the horse as if it could be infectious.

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@findeight Mares and stallions go to Davis or to a facility in Oregon.

This. CEM management is very different from true quarantine/isolation. Those horses can be ridden, handled, etc.

It’s not the USDA’s job to find alternate accommodations because the current ones are too expensive. Yeah it’d be nice to have that option but it’s not their responsibility.

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