Northern Rivers livestock & horse flood disaster

Hello I'm Dr Oliver Liyou, Veterinarian/Director at EVDS,

Tragically, one of the largest livestock and horse welfare disasters is unfolding, which is why we’re pleading for your support - no matter how large or small, every little bit helps!

It’s impossible to fathom losing your home, possessions and businesses. Now to ask people to stand by watching their animals suffer or worst still, not being able to find their stock, is soul-destroying and cruel.

Some owners are dreading getting back to their farms, unsure what they are going to find? These beautiful animals need our urgent help.

Up to now Vets and their associates have personally funded the expenses, called on favours and exhausted all means available to them to provide fodder, drugs, fuel, transport and treatments. Heartbreakingly, our large animals are dying, injured, lost and now starving. A week into this disaster the facts are:

• 3 major veterinary clinics in Lismore completely destroyed along with all their vital supplies, equipment and machinery

o Lismore Vet Clinic – Destroyed

o Keen Street Veterinary Clinic – Destroyed

o Lismore Central Veterinary Hospital - Destroyed

• Livestock and horses stranded either on mud islands or still in the water – often with painful cuts and infections.

• 100’s injured and starving

• 100’s still missing

• A complete herd of dairy cattle wiped out, and the future carcass recovery creating major health risks and logistical nightmares.

We urgently need your help. Every dollar raised will go to the purchasing and distribution of fodder, veterinary pharmaceuticals, field equipment, yarding and transport, most of which is delivered by helicopter. Aviation fuel is expensive, but helicopters are the fastest option to locate animals, identify those needing urgent medical attention and drop feed and supplies. In short, when we reach an amount that will cover a drop – we can pay and release the drop. It costs around $20,000 a day, even with the chopper pilots donating their time, and we need at least a week in the hope that this time will allow floodwaters to recede and access via roads will take over the efforts.

Up to 100-200 mm of rain is still to come, which can set us back massively in accessing these suffering animals via road.

For some it may seem hard to expand your focus when people have lost so much. But we have a responsibility to our livestock and horses to provide the best care – no matter the outcome. It’s called humanity!

Please donate what you can. We will keep you informed every step of the way. This GoFundMe has been created by our vets, vet nurses, staff, landholders, livestock owners and volunteers to best coordinate a united effort to make a difference and address the urgent direct needs of our Northern Rivers flood victims – both animal and human.

Thank you from Dr Bruno Ros, Dr Oliver Liyou, Dr Pip Bacon, Dr Nikita Stibbard, Dr Jo Hoad, Dr Joe Weir, Dr Lu Fenny, Dr Essie Hamilton, Dr Doug English, Dr Rhian Paltridge, Dr Phil Sharman, Dr Ross Brown, Dr Liz Brown, Dr Jane Mactier, Dr Chris Johnson, Dr Stephen Deist, Dr Greg Baldwin, Dr Matt McKee, the vast amount and amazing veterinary nurses, managers (especially Lara Johnson, Kate Noller & Pauline Allin who have made the logistics a lot easier), staff, transport workers and those who just pitch in to help.