Oropi breeding stallion Rockafella's injuries. Photo / Chris Ragaas
Oropi breeding stallion Rockafella's injuries. Photo / Chris Ragaas
Warning: Distressing content and graphic image
A Bay of Plenty woman who had to put her breeding stallion down after the animal was severely injured during Guy Fawkes has added her support to calls for banning public fireworks sales.
Rockafella, 17, also known as Rocky, was the second horse in the Western Bay of Plenty euthanised last month because of what were believed to be fireworks-related injuries.
The Bay of Plenty Times was contacted about a second horse’s death. Its owner, Oropi’s Chris Rugaas, spoke of her “heartbreaking” loss of Rocky in a similar fashion to Remi.
Rugaas, the owner and breeder of Rockafella, said her coloured mixed sport horse was found in a paddock on November 8 with both back legs covered in blood and severe cuts.
One leg was “slashed down to the bone”.
Rugaas said she looked out her window about 7am that day and saw Rocky was in a different paddock to the one she had left him the night before and couldn’t work out how he got there.
Rocky sustained severe cuts to both back legs and was euthanised.
Rugaas said a neighbour told her people were letting off fireworks in a gully area about midnight.
‘’I believe it was townies who did not live in this area letting them off,” Rugaas said.
“From what I saw in the paddock, Rocky must have been woken up, bolted, and skidded into the wire fence and through it, and the damaged wire has sliced both legs. One leg was worse than the other, it was sliced right down to the bone.”
She said she hosed Rocky’s legs down, gave him some feed mixed with an anti-inflammatory painkiller and called a vet, but the vet was too busy to come to the property straight away. Her uncle collected antibiotics from the clinic.
Oropi stallion Rockafella suffered leg injuries.
Rugaas said her uncle showed the vet photos of Rocky’s injured legs and was told it would cost about $8000 to treat the animal, he would probably have bone infections, and it could take up to two years to mend.
“I’ve been having a pretty hard time with my finances and have nothing left in the kitty ... and I knew if I had just bandaged Rocky’s legs it would be all too much for him with the summer heat and the flies, so I decided the most humane thing was to put him to sleep.
“It was a heartbreaking decision, but stallions need their back legs for breeding.“
Rugaas said she had been breeding sport horses for dressage, eventing and show jumping events for more than 25 years.
Rocky was euthanised on November 8. Photo / Chris Rugaas
Rocky was a “lovely horse, with an amazing temperament, and very special bloodlines”. One of its relatives had gone to the Olympics. Its sire Pintado Desperado had the same bloodlines as NZB Galdalf, Mark Todd’s 2008 Olympics mount.
Rugaas said Rocky had probably sired about 50 progeny, including his latest colt, Stash, born about three weeks ago.
“And all his foals have his nature and they have all been easy horses to work with.”
Two mares in the same paddock as Rocky were likely in foal to him.
Oropi resident Chris Rugaas with some of her sport horses, including newly-born colt Stash which was sired by Rockafella. Photo / Sandra Conchie
Rugaas said she was struggling with losing Rocky and wanted fireworks sales to the public banned, except for controlled displays.
“My emotions are pretty up and down at the moment and I have mainly been hiding away from other people. I’m wallowing at home, really. I’m trying to deal with it all as best I can.
“Too many animals are getting injured and frightened. Fireworks are terrible things, and they need to introduce far stricter rules on their use.”
Natalie Crotty, who lives in Welcome Bay, told the Bay of Plenty Times she agreed.
Crotty said she had to put her sport horse, Chief, 21, down last year after it suffered “horrendous” cuts down to the bone in his legs following a similar fireworks-related incident about 10 years ago.
Chief was sired by a different stallion that had belonged to Rugaas.
She said despite spending thousands of dollars and nursing Chief back to health, it was “never the same horse”, could never be ridden and had developed severe arthritis, hence her decision to euthanise him.
“I fully support Donna and Chris’ calls for fireworks sales direct to the public to be banned. I’ve supported the Animal Justice Party’s Ban the Boom campaign for years.”
Environment Minister Penny Simmonds earlier said she was considering “all options” relating to calls for the ban and impacts of private fireworks use.
More than 75,000 people have signed Animates Vetcare NZ’s petition calling for a ban on fireworks sales to the public, and the SPCA and NZ Veterinary Association also advocated for bans.
Hundreds of posts on Tauranga social media pages have also called for action – particularly in rural areas of Welcome Bay.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand community education manager Tom Ronaldson said fireworks cause “damaging, preventable fires, and injuries”.
Ronaldson said previous legislative changes had seen individual products prohibited and tightening of controls around sale and sale periods.
“However, the concerns we hold around injury and damage remain. Fire and Emergency supports further restrictions on the public sale of fireworks.
“We’d rather people didn’t buy fireworks but if people are going to purchase fireworks, then before lighting them they should always check it is safe to do so by visiting www.checkitsalright.nz, clicking on fireworks and then checking it’s all right to light.”
Sandra Conchie is a senior journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post who has been a journalist for 24 years. She mainly covers police, court and other justice stories, as well as general news. She has been a Canon Media Awards regional/community reporter of the year.
