COOLUP resident Sarah Vieceli was shocked to find her horse injured and in need of urgent medical attention on New Year’s morning after illegal fireworks were set off near her stable the previous night.
Ms Vieceli, the owner of two horses named King and Carla, said the fireworks were loud enough to shake her entire house.
“I never thought my horses would have an issue so I didn’t think to see if they were okay on New Year’s Eve,” she said.
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READ NOW“I don’t quite understand the need for anyone to let any kind of explosive off, it’s completely irresponsible.”
Ms Vieceli described six rounds of fireworks going off throughout night – five from 11.30pm to midnight and one right on midnight.
“In the morning I went out to check the stables and I noticed my horse King holding his head quite differently so I knew straight away something was wrong,” she said.
“I took him to the vet straight away but he was lucky to escape serious injuries.
“His eyeball itself is okay and he didn’t break the eye socket but he has nasty gashes and had to have some skin taken off.
“He also had an injury to his other eye, an injury between his ears and numerous grazes to his legs and body.”
Ms Vieceli said she believed King freaked out, kicked the panelling and slipped in the stable and then fell backwards where the side of his head took the full brunt of the trip.
“There’s a hole in the really strong panelling so King must have kicked it hard – he’s not the biggest of horses to break it,” she said.
“These horses have been in these exact stables for the past four years.
“My stable is safe and I’ve taken care to make sure there are no sharp bits, so I’m quite strict on safety.”
King’s vet expenses are yet to be sent to Ms Vieceli, however she predicted it would be around $300 to $500.
Her horse Carla was not injured.
“I’m brand new to the area so a few people did say fireworks may happen on New Year’s Eve and I should prepare for it so maybe I was a bit naive,” she said.
“However, people should just not be doing illegal fireworks.”
Ms Vicelli said horses on a nearby property were also panicked and distressed from the fireworks.
“The vet said King will heal just fine but he’s a show horse so we hope it wont scar too much,” she said.
“At the end of the day, his health is paramount and that’s all I care about.”