Evacuating, sheltering and caring for animals are enormous tasks made more difficult in a state under siege from wildfires. But the California Veterinary Emergency Team, or CVET, is ready to lead a statewide coordinated effort to provide veterinary care when disasters like wildfires strike.
Administered by the One Health Institute at the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine, CVET supports and trains a network of government agencies and organizations to aid domestic animals and livestock during emergencies.
This fire season, CVET is ready to assist counties across the state with veterinary rescue and care when local resources have been exhausted and state assistance is needed.
“We are 100 percent ready to deploy and respond should a wildfire or any other disaster require veterinary response or assistance,” said William Burke, associate director of planning for CVET.
A mobile command
Burke said CVET is equipped with 22-foot and 24-foot trailers that will serve as mobile in-field hospitals and exam rooms for injured animals, as well as a horse trailer and several vehicles. A 44-foot trailer is currently being retrofitted to provide additional exam space as well as sleeping quarters for veterinarians should the team be called to a remote location. The goal is to be as self-sufficient as possible, whether responding to wildfires, flooding or other disasters.
“Having ready-to-go resources on hand allows our veterinary team to show up with the resources they need to provide exceptional veterinary care in the field, treating burns, injuries, and other conditions as the need arises,” said veterinarian Ashley Patterson, associate director of operations for CVET.
Need for collaborative response
With an increasing need for coordinated veterinary care during emergencies throughout the state, the California Legislature passed a bill forming the new CVET in 2021. The team is modeled after the UC Davis One Health Institute's Oiled Wildlife Care Network, or OWCN, which works with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and more than 45 organizations throughout the state to help rescue and treat injured wildlife during oil spills. Its more than 1,600 active responders have cared for more than 10,000 oiled animals in more than 100 incidents since inception in 1994.
“The history of success of the OWCN has shown us the power of proactive partnerships with animal care professionals, scientific organizations, universities and governmental organizations,” said CVET Director Michael Ziccardi. “With dedicated individuals from all facets of a disaster working together on preparedness before a disaster hits, a coordinated and effective response can occur to save animals in crisis.”
Since forming, CVET has partnered with a variety of state agencies, nongovernmental organizations and veterinary medical associations. CVET works in close collaboration with California's Office of Emergency Services, the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the California Animal Response Emergency System, the California Veterinary Medical Reserve Corps and many other response organizations throughout the state.
“We are grateful to the state, which has entrusted us with such an important public mission. Using our veterinary expertise to help prepare for and respond to disasters across California,” said Mark Stetter, dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine. “Although we hope to never see disasters, we know that when they come they can be devastating to our pets, horses and livestock. I'm glad that we are ready to help the next time there is a need.”
With the formation of CVET, the personnel, equipment, knowledge and legacy of the previous UC Davis Veterinary Emergency Response Team, or VERT, was folded into CVET. This expanded UC Davis' veterinary disaster response capacity from a local county effort to a statewide response. UC Davis VERT typically triaged, evaluated, treated or rescued more than 1,000 animals every wildfire season.
British Racing's Horse Welfare Board is launching the first ever Thoroughbred census in Great Britain, in collaboration with research experts at Hartpury University.
All owners of former racehorses are being asked to submit a completed census between June 28 June and Dec. 31, 2023. The census will help build an improved Thoroughbred data bank about former racehorses and the lives they go on to lead.
The project's primary objective is to help improve traceability of Thoroughbreds after they have been retired from racing. With improved data, British Racing and its aftercare charity, Retraining of Racehorses (RoR), can better support owners with access to educational resources and routes to compete if desired, as well as continue to build informed and helpful communities.
Improved data at this stage of a Thoroughbred's life can also help the Horse Welfare Board and RoR improve and adapt welfare initiatives and will, most importantly, enable fast and effective contact in the event of an equine disease outbreak.
The census will request information on each horse's equine identification document (passport) number, microchip number, age, current residence, second career, and more to provide a robust view of the 2023 British retired racehorse population.
The six-month census has been launched in partnership with Retraining of Racehorses (RoR), British Racing's official aftercare charity, funded by the Racing Foundation, and is supported by World Horse Welfare and Weatherbys General Stud Book.
Helena Flynn, Programme Director, Horse Welfare Board, said: “Improving the traceability of Thoroughbreds after they retire from racing is a fundamental part of the Horse Welfare Board's five-year welfare strategy. The launch of this census is a significant project to help increase the depth, quality, and volume of data about thoroughbreds at this important stage of their lives.
“Just as importantly, this campaign will help us talk about responsible ownership and the critical part every Thoroughbred owner plays in ensuring their equine identification document (passport) is up to date. We are delighted to be working with Hartpury University on the census and hope that between us we can encourage as many owners as possible to participate.”
Jane Williams, Head of Research at Hartpury University, added: “We're delighted to be part of this proactive initiative as Hartpury is committed to supporting the equine sector to improve the quality of life of the horses' we all love. The census will present an opportunity to understand more about the lifetime care of Thoroughbreds, generate evidence to safeguard against future disease outbreaks, and showcase the huge benefits thoroughbreds bring to so many people.”
The primary source of traceability for all horses in Great Britain is the equine identification document (passport), which new owners of any horse are required to update within 30 days of new ownership. During their racing careers this information is meticulously maintained with the Weatherbys General Stud Book via breeders, owners, and trainers.
However, data for former racehorses reduces significantly when they go into private ownership after their first step out of racing, with general equine identification document (passport) compliance at an average of 20 percent across the equestrian world. The reasons for this are presumed to be a lack of understanding of the importance of this step, confusion on costs, the desire to hold on to the document after a horse has died and general apathy to engage in the process.
As a result, an additional objective of the census will be to communicate to private owners and encourage them to take action, to check their horse's equine identification document (passport) and if needed, to get it updated. At the same time, owners of horses who were registered with a licensed British trainer in their past will be encouraged to register their horse for free with Retraining of Racehorses (RoR).
David Catlow, Managing Director, Retraining of Racehorses, added: “We are pleased to be teaming up with the Horse Welfare Board and Hartpury University to encourage owners of former racehorses to participate in the census survey. The 'social license' for the use of horses in sport is under increasing scrutiny and what happens to former racehorses after they retire from racing is identified as a particular concern. This is a significant step towards ensuring Thoroughbreds enjoy a healthy and caring existence during their lifetimes and will provide the racing industry with the relevant data to guide future decisions”.
RoR is a thriving community which provides Thoroughbred owners with access to education, advice, and an established series of events to support the ongoing healthy, happy lives of former racehorses. By registering horses with RoR's free membership option, owners can help racing ensure future traceability through its annual check on their horse's status.
Roly Owers OBE, CEO, World Horse Welfare, said: “This is an excellent initiative along the road of improving the traceability for all Thoroughbreds. Full traceability lasts a lifetime as a horse bred for racing will always be a racehorse in the eyes of the public, and they rightly hold the industry responsible for them throughout their lives. There really is a collective responsibility to make this work towards the much needed goal of full traceability, both for the sake of the horses and the reputation of the industry.”
The 2023 Thoroughbred Census can be completed online HERE , as well as at key equine events throughout the rest of the year, before closing on Dec. 31, 2023. Completion of the census is not compulsory, but owners are strongly encouraged to join the community and participate. Full results will be reported during the first quarter of 2024.
Cellulitis can come on rapidly in horses and be quite startling in its appearance: a horse that was fine a few hours ago may now have a massively swollen limb that is hot to the touch, if it can be touched at all. Often affected horses are significantly lame as the swelling radiates up and down the leg.
A diffuse bacterial infection of the skin and subcutaneous tissues, cellulitis can bring on impressive swelling and pain. The infection can begin from any cut in the skin, even those that seem unimportant, like a scrape or minor cut. Some cases of cellulitis occur even with no sign of breached skin: blunt trauma that bruises deep tissue can also be prime areas for cellulitis.
A tell-tale sign that a horse is experiencing cellulitis and not some other malady comes from the pitting edema: When pressed, the limb briefly retains the indentation from the finger. This is from the fluid accumulation in the tissues.
Horses with cellulitis are often in such pain that they don't want to eat, are lethargic, and have a fever and elevated heart rate. Serum may also ooze from the affected leg.
Cellulitis can be life threatening, so a call to the vet is warranted. The vet will perform an exam and often do blood work or perform an ultrasound or bacterial culture to identify the best type of antibiotics and anti-inflammatories to administer to keep the horse comfortable while the condition resolves.
The best way to prevent cellulitis is to care for wounds as soon as they are identified: cleaning them well, identifying how deep they are, and then applying antibiotic ointment and possibly a bandage will minimize the chance of cellulitis. Contact a veterinarian for guidance if unsure of how to best care for a wound.
Chronic cellulitis is a possibility if the condition is not treated aggressively and well. Life-threatening complications like opposing-limb laminitis or tissue necrosis can arise. Some infections can travel deeply enough to affect underlying structures and require long-term, intense care.
This spring, the racing industry faced renewed criticism of its safety record, after Churchill Downs saw an increased number of fatal injuries during its prominent spring meet. Insiders have been hopeful that a new technology called StrideSafe can one day reduce the number of injuries on America's racetracks.
The system, which is made up of sensors carried in a horse's saddle pad that measure motion in all directions, was trialed in New York on most runners starting in 2021. The sensors are designed to detect and quantify changes in movement that could signal an impending injury. The system was engineered in Australia and has been used on the there and in Tasmania to alert trainers and veterinarians to stride changes that may be imperceptible to the human eye. In New York, the system was used in 6,626 starts. StrideSafe software ranks a performance similarly to a traffic light – red, amber, or green – with green showing no significant deviations from normal movement for that horse, red indicating significant change, and amber indicating that the horse should be monitored with caution.
This year, horses at Rillito Park and Churchill Downs have been wearing the sensors, as researchers and regulators try to get an idea of how it can – and can't – be used to improve equine safety.
We spoke with StrideSafe CEO Dr. David Lambert, and also tuned in to a presentation by Lambert and Churchill Downs equine medical director Dr. Will Farmer before Kentucky horsemen this week. Here's what we know so far about the system and its potential.
—The system works better the more times the same horse wears it. StrideSafe is designed not just to compare a horse's way of going to what its software considers “normal” but, more importantly, to establish what an individual horse's “normal” way of moving looks like. It can give you a red, amber, or green rating for a horse when it's used on the horse for the first time, but each subsequent rating becomes more meaningful because the software can learn to look for changes for that individual. That means it's going to be most effective when it's used on the same circuit for a long time, or on multiple regional circuits over time.
This hasn't yet happened outside of New York. The study run at Churchill's spring meeting will end when the Churchill meeting at Ellis concludes July 2. That study was funded by the Kentucky Equine Drug Research Council and included the collection of data from horses in races and breezes. The funding also extended to free diagnostic imaging for horses who received a red rating, in hopes of better defining the best way for horsemen and veterinarians to interpret those ratings. It's still uncertain whether funding will be found to continue readings at the Ellis meet. The StrideSafe system costs $35/horse per use.
It was also used at Rillito Park's meeting earlier this year, with funding provided by owner Jim McIngvale.
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—So far, the sensors are good at correctly identifying a horse most at risk of an impending musculoskeletal injury. At Churchill's spring meet, Lambert said seven of eight musculoskeletal breakdowns during racing had sensor outputs that were abnormal. (It's important to note that does not mean they had any physical changes or gait problems that would have been visible to the naked eye; all of them passed pre-race veterinary exams.)
Those statistics – and the 19 of 20 fatal breakdowns flagged in New York – refer to the horse's rating in its last race, however. Data isn't uploaded anywhere in real-time, and in fact isn't collected and analyzed until the race card is over. For Lambert's purposes, it's useful to show that the sensors are not falsely rating very many performances as fine when they're not.
Red and amber ratings also come up in plenty of performances where horses don't suffer fatal injury, and Lambert believes an alteration in a horse's movement may begin several performances ahead of a fatal breakdown. His hope is that red ratings can generate extra scrutiny early enough to avoid breakdowns.
—Red and amber ratings can happen for reasons other than an injury. In the New York trial, Lambert found 17 percent of 6,616 starts had red ratings. He further split red ratings into multiple categories depending on severity of the horse's deviation from normal movement. Five percent of starts (or 331 starts) were in the highest-risk red category. These horses, he found, had a 300 times higher risk of fatality than horses with green runs.
But the sensors in StrideSafe are measuring abnormal movement and do so without knowing context. That means that if a horse is checked or bumped during a race, or if they break from the gate awkwardly, the sensor will correctly realize that something is different and may give a red or amber rating. It's also possible a horse running on a new surface for the first time may move differently because they have difficulty with depth or traction, but haven't actually experienced damage that signals an oncoming fracture.
StrideSafe researchers at Churchill watched race video of performances that generated red ratings prior to informing trainers of the red rating so they could try to give them as much context as possible. Lambert also encourages trainers to give feedback to StrideSafe about what they think may have caused an abnormal rating so he can better pinpoint what the sensors are picking up.
That also means there are going to be red ratings which don't show any sign of impending injury on diagnostics, and red ratings that may switch to green in a horse's next start even without intervention. Lambert believes it's still worthwhile to screen those horses and hopefully prevent some fatal injuries.
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—There are also some types of injury or death that StrideSafe isn't likely to warn you about. In his presentation at Churchill this week, Lambert said that soft tissue injuries like ligament failure don't have the same pattern of forewarning that bone fractures do, based on human data, and he doesn't expect StrideSafe will see anything abnormal prior to the moment of injury. It also can't anticipate sudden deaths, which are commonly thought to be cardiac or pulmonary in nature and aren't preceded by much change in the horse's movement more than a few steps prior to a fall.
Still, he's encouraged that the sensors can provide useful data.
“Don't let's beat the whole idea to death just because [false greens] will happen,” he said.
—For this reason, this is not going to become a regulatory tool. Lambert says there is not likely a world where a horse could be added to a veterinarian's list based on a red rating. In the Churchill trial, horse-specific results were not reported to the state racing commission.
The future of StrideSafe is, to Lambert, as a tool in the toolbox of a trainer and their private veterinarian to let them know which horses may benefit from diagnostic scrutiny.
—This system is also not going to tell a trainer what type of injury a horse has brewing. Over time, Lambert said, the system will be able to tell trainers whether it's noticing abnormalities in a front versus hind end, or left versus right side of the body, but that's it.
“It's not a diagnostic tool,” said Lambert. “It's set up for screening.”
Trainers of Churchill horses who received red ratings had the option of getting free diagnostic scans to correlate those ratings with injury risk. Three of those flagged horses received PET scans and one received a bone scan but those results aren't available to the public.
Lambert said there are key points on certain bones that racetrack veterinarians already know are most likely to accumulate stress-related damage that can lead to a fracture, so this should give them a base to work from when they go hunting for any unseen problems.
—StrideSafe was tested on horses recording timed workouts this spring. This would have marked the first time the system was used broadly on breezing horses. It does not take data from slower works or from the warm-ups before a horse enters the gate for a race because the horse is moving too slowly and if they're being ponied, that will impact their gait.
Farmer said it has proven difficult to accumulate data on horses in the morning because training plans can often be subject to change and trainers don't have to notify anyone too far in advance that they're planning to work a given horse. He's hopeful that ultimately the sensors could warn of an impending injury based on workout data, before the horse is placed at risk in a higher-intensity race situation, but it's also hard to trace when horses who got red ratings in workouts may not have gone onto the next race as planned and been put on the sidelines for diagnostics instead.
—Further details from Churchill aren't available to the public yet. Because the Churchill study was done with the hope it would result in a peer-reviewed publication, Lambert was unable to provide specific numbers on how many horses total were flagged as red, amber, and green, or the results of any follow-up examinations on red-flagged horses. Peer-reviewed journals often require that publishable work not have been shared prior to publication, which binds researchers to some silence as they go through the process of data analysis and journal review.
—Practicing veterinarians will soon have a chance to learn about StrideSafe outputs. Lambert said he plans to hold a series of trainings for racetrack veterinarians to help them understand the statistics and charts the system generates, which could give them a better frame of reference for interpreting results and figuring out where to hunt for an injury.
