Plan to get animals out safely, too
Farm and ranch emergencies can arise for many different reasons
SUMMERLAND — Emergency preparedness can mean the difference between life and death for your animals.
“Those are scary words, but they’re true,” Joan Sopow recently said to a group of horse owners in her presentation on emergency preparedness.
Joan and her husband, Vern Sopow, own Faulder Badlands Sport Horses, a horse training and coaching facility, and Last fandango Cattle Company in Faulder, located northwest of Summerland.
Fourteen horses, two donkeys, two dogs and approximately 50 head of cattle call the Sopow property home.
Farm and ranch emergencies can arise for many reasons, such as floods, fires, hazardous materials spills and freezing weather.
In the recent flooding, the Sopows lost 10 large trees and three metres of land, and their private bridge over Trout Creek was damaged when a five-metre root bulb repeatedly struck it.
“It was a little bit crazy,” Joan said.
At the meeting of students and boarders, Joan took up a collection to thank the two neighbours who had allowed them access through their property when flooding prevented travel over the usual dirt lane. Knowing your neighbours and networking are important aspects of emergency preparedness, she explained.
“Flooding has stopped and we’re now facing the threat of fire,” Joan added.
The Sopows enforce a strict nosmoking policy on their property and keep fire extinguishers in the barn as barn fires are a year-round threat.
Last summer during the Findlay Fire, the Sopows were on evacuation alert for two weeks. They had everything in place to evacuate if need be.
“Neither Vern nor I left the property during that time. Things can change so quickly,” Joan said.
While carefully watching the fire, their chief concern was the possibility of a spot fire starting on their property, which would have given them little time to act.
When evacuation isn’t possible, it’s important to free the animals: remove halters, open gates, cut fences, do whatever is possible to give them a chance to escape the fire.
Identification of individual animals is crucial regardless of whether they are evacuated in an orderly fashion or flee for their lives. Joan recommends identification tags that can be attached to a horse’s mane or tail.
The tags contain pertinent information such as a phone number for the owner and a description of the horse.
Animals without identification were a major problem during the fires last summer in the Caribou, according to Garnet Valley resident Donna Wackerbauer.
“We got calls like: ‘Find my brown horse,’” she said.
Now with the Canadian Disaster Animal Response Team, Wackerbauer spent over three months in Louisiana helping animals following the Katrina hurricane in 2005 and several weeks in Sri Lanka after the 2003 earthquake and tsunami.
The Sopows, who know their horses well, have established the loading order for the animals, all of which have been assigned to one of three trailers.
The trailers will be equipped with hay, halters, lead ropes and first aid kits.
The Sopow horses would be taken to either the Kelowna Riding Club or the stockyards at Okanagan Falls.
“A good plan includes knowing where you can take your animals and making prior arrangements,” Joan said.
For horse owners who don’t have a trailer, Wackerbauer said, “Network until you find someone, preferably a neighbour, who can transport your animals.”
Joan recommends that owners have an equine “grab-and-go bag” containing a halter, first aid kit and any necessary medications, plus an extra water bucket.
She also recommends that owners know in advance their insurance companies’ policies regarding potential losses and expenses.