Stop The Coggins Slaughter

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), December 25, 2001

Answers

Response to Stop The Coggins Slaughter

Funny,, or not so funny,, but I have seen over a dozen horses that have EIA-/or Coggins,, died slowly when owners would not put them down. These horses can also pass this on to others peoples horses.

I am just going from what I have seen with my own eyes, over the many years dealing with horses. Not what people have written.

-- Bergere (Autumnhaus@aol.com), December 25, 2001.

Response to Stop The Coggins Slaughter

This year in Central Florida I know of 3 horses that were put down with EIA we also have a local High School football Coach who is suffering from EIA (Note NOT West Nile) and was very close to death this summer but appears to be recovering slowly last I heard.

The State of Florida is very strict on the testing of EIA in horses. The Thougrhbred Horse business is the second largest industry (behind tourism) in Florida. You cannot travel more than 40 miles into the State from Georgia or Alabama without running into a Florida Agriculture Inspection Station. If you are pulling any type of trailer or any enclosed truck you must stop at these inspection station, and from personal excperience I know you won't get far if you fail to stop.

I also understand the problems with the Coggin's test and do belive a lot of it is a big Money deal, but I also belive it is an evil neccercery. I have also wondered if you take your horse to the Vet and have blood drawn for a Coggin's Test and after the blood is drawn an incect carrying EIA could come along and infect the horse but with the Negative test result you would be free to travel the state with the horse for a year.

I will say honestly I have know idea how a horses health is affected by EIA but I do know it can be deadly to humans.

One last note my Brother lost a Mule we belive from having blood drawn for a Coggin's Test. A vet came to my Brother's place to draw Blood for the Coggin's test and within 4 hours the Mule was dead. The Mule was perfectly healthy before the test. We know he did not Colic because we inspected his intestines and found no blockage. We belive air was introduced into his veins during the blood draw. But than again it may have been a total coinceidence.

-- Mark in N.C. Fla. (deadgoatman@webtv.net), December 25, 2001.

I saw a horse with EIA when I was in my teens (early 70's), it left a memorable impression. I worked at a small hack/boarding stable that was completely shut down because of the illness, every horse within a five mile radius was tested. There were three horses with various degrees of sickness from EIA, and one carrier found--all were at the stable. The most severely effected horse was a bag of bones, she looked like a skeleton and I'm sure she would have died had the disease not been discovered, she was put down and her body taken to Cornell. Not much was known about the disease in NYS at the time, and it wasn't diagnosed timely.

This is a tough situation- carriers don't get sick, but can still pass the disease. I didn't realize that humans could contract EIA-- I'll have to do a little research on this... There was an outbreak this spring/summer from a small dealer in PA, it is believed the virus went through New Holland Auction. It did spread to a few surrounding states, but I haven't followed this outbreak in a while so I don't know the extent.

This is a tough situation, and I am stuck in the middle of it. I ship horses to sale, show, and to breeding so I have to have every horse on the place Coggin's tested(in NYS if you so much as trailer a horse a mile down the road you better have a copy of it's Coggin's test on you, because you can be stopped and asked to produce it.) I've never had a positive horse, so any feelings I have now is theory, but I'd have the horse, carrier or not, put down. I believe that's why the studies indicate that very few horses actually die of EIA--the test catches the virus and the horse is put down before it can actually die of the disease.

Well, that's my humble opinion on the matter, anyhow...

Stacy in NY

-- Stacy (KincoraFarm@aol.com), December 26, 2001.

I've done a lot of traveling with my equine thru the years and I've never been stopped at borders for Coggins papers, or even proof of ownership. That's not to say it can't happen, it just hasn't. They don't have the manpower.

Many years ago my vets told me the Coggins was a useless test but was good for making the vets some dollars. (The test was invented by a vet, Leroy Coggins, in 1970.) My vets charged $75 for the test. They said it was useless not only 'cause it's only good the few seconds the blood is drawn, but it wasn't reliable. Too many equine will show positive one month, negative the next....it bounces back and forth.

Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA) was discovered 200 years ago. The vets have said if the disease was so devastating, there wouldn't be an equine left on the planet.

There are horses here who have tested positive for the last 20 years. Many equine are bought and sold here without the Coggins test. If the buyer and seller don't care, the test isn't given.

I will be working very hard (along with a network of folks across the country) to educate the legislators in an effort to get this test tossed out. I'm not as much against the fee for the test as I am about healthy equine being put down. And I'm really looking forward to all the lawsuits! :^)

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), December 26, 2001.

At our local horse auction, we get thousands of animals from 4 states in various degrees of health. The animals that do not have their coggins papers are tested by the auction vet for $15. a head. Like Rogo, we can haul horses around all day and never be asked for our papers. There are just too many horses around here to check every one. I'd say that every third vehicle going down the highway has a horse or stock trailer behind, loaded with horses. We have never had a problem with the horses we have purchased or raised. Also, horses are bought and sold around here everyday without being tested.

-- cowgirlone (cowgirlone47@hotmail.com), December 26, 2001.

I don't know about anywhere else but here in New York State, we can't even unload at a show without providing Coggins papers.

-- Stacy (KincoraFarm@aol.com), December 30, 2001.

In this article at:http://horses.about.com/library/weekly/aa060400a.htm?once=true& It says there is about a 30% mortality for EIA. I wouldn't want to loose any of my horses who travel often. Odds are to big for me. We have been stopped at the Texas-Oklahoma border and Texas-New Mexico border and papers checked. All shows we attend require a negative coggins and clean health papers. We also take in outside mares for breeding and require a negative coggins!! We will continue to TEST. We also have horses in our area who are in isolation. Very sad but mares are allowed to foal and if baby tests negative it is allowed to be sold. Our vet charges $30.00 which I consider a small price to pay. Yvonne

-- Yvonne Raines (windridermorgans@earthlink.net), February 07, 2002.