A horse owner — whose mare had to be put down due to catastrophic injuries caused by fireworks — says the private sale of fireworks must be banned.
Remi, a 14-year-old retired race horse, became entangled in a fence after being spooked by fireworks near her Tauranga paddock.
The mare’s injuries were so severe, she had to be euthanised.
Owner Donna Matherson told RNZ’s Checkpoint people had driven up her rural road and started to party at about 10.30pm.
“I went out to my horses to check and they had started running because, I don’t know if there’s something different this year, but the fireworks were so loud and the ones that exploded in the sky, it was like sheet lightning.”
Matherson thought she had calmed the horses and went back to bed after midnight thinking things were over but got a phone call on Thursday morning from a neighbour.
“She [Remi] had gone through a fence, pretty much ripped her foot off and there was no saving her…she lost pretty much all of her blood,” Matherson said.
“It’s been one of the most probably horrendous 24 hours I’ve ever had to deal with — that bad.”
Matherson said Remi went through a big transition from being a racehorse to becoming a horse her kids could ride.
“There’s a lot of love and time goes into that relationship and to see such a brutal end is, I’ll never unsee it, I’ll never unfeel it, it just rips your soul to pieces really.”
She said she was not against public displays of fireworks.
People don’t see the consequences of their actions when using fireworks, she said.
“They don’t get to see my horse ripped to pieces, tangled in a fence and gate and knee deep and blood, they just had a few sparkles in the sky and thought life’s good.”
Another of her horses will never be ridden again because of fireworks.
“He didn’t lose his life but he lost his chance of a good life.”
