Horse euthanised after fireworks-related incident in Tauranga

Warning: Distressing content and graphic image

A horse believed to have been spooked by fireworks was put down suffering “brutal” leg injuries after ripping through a wire fence on a rural property.

Donna Matheson, the owner of 14-year-old Remi, is heartbroken after the tragedy on the outskirts of target="_blank">Tauranga this week.

“I can never unsee what I have seen and never not know the extreme pain and suffering Remi went through ... I cannot begin to explain how I feel right now, but it’s more than heartbreaking, it’s soul-destroying trauma,” she told the Bay of Plenty Times.

She last saw the horse on Tuesday night when fireworks that sounded like “big gunshots” were let off near her Garrett Rd property in Waitao in the Pāpāmoa Hills.

Remi, 14, had to be euthanised after being injured after fireworks were let off.

Matheson believed people who did not live in the area arrived and let off the fireworks on the road. A neighbour found Remi the next morning and her injuries were so severe she had to be euthanised.

Matheson wants fireworks banned except for controlled public displays.

Matheson, who owns a small lifestyle block on Garrett Rd, said Remi and a male horse called Diesel were in a fenced paddock on her property on Tuesday night. She said she heard fireworks in the area about 10.30pm while in bed and looked out the window.

“When I went outside to check on my two horses they were tearing around in one of my two paddocks,” she said.

“I saw what looked like sheet lightning that lit up the sky and as multiple fireworks were let off at regular intervals. It sounded like big gunshots.”

Matheson said she did not go to the area where the fireworks were being let off during the next couple of hours but spent that time trying to calm down her horses before returning to bed.

A neighbour found Remi badly injured near one of his front gates about 7 am the next day, she said.

Mathesonbelieved Remi bolted through a fence on her property, lost her footing and careered down onto the road. Her right back foot was “ripped completely off”.

Remi also had minor cuts and bruises over her body, she said.

Remi after being euthanised.

“Remi had lost litres and litres of blood and due to her foot being ripped off she wasn’t able to stand up properly and that’s the lifeblood of a horse ... Because of the extent of her leg injury and all the blood loss, her energy was dissipating. Remi was in a lot of pain and distress,” Matheson said.

“It is the most brutal injury I have ever seen in my life. I rang a vet, but in the end, it was decided there was nothing a vet could do to save her, and the most humane thing was not to wait. One of my neighbours helped me euthanise Remi.

Donna Matheson and her beloved 14-year-old mare Remi. The mare was euthanised after being badly injured when spooked by fireworks.

Matheson had owned Remi - a former thoroughbred racehorse - for 10 years after rescuing the horse as a 4-year-old.

“Remi was a gentle, kind and beautiful animal. She never bit or kicked anyone and lots of people loved riding her, including children.

“It’s been pretty traumatic not only for me but the all others who saw Remi’s horrific injuries.”

She said her other horse, aged 15, was taken to a property in Te Puke because of all the blood in the paddock and near the wire fence.

Matheson said lots of spent fireworks were found on the road at the top of Waitao Rd. This led her to believe people from outside the area had let off the fireworks.

“There was a large pile of them and the problem with people bringing fireworks into a rural area and letting them off is they freak out animals, especially horses.”

Matheson said she had contacted Animates Vetcare New Zealand and invited the organisation to use Remi’s death as part of its campaign to ban the public sale of fireworks.

Neighbour Andrew McKeown said he noticed lots of blood splatters on the road in front of the gate and found the injured horse on herfeet between a car and his boundary fence.

“There was also a trail of blood from the front of our driveway and all the way down the road towards where Donna lives.”

“Remi’s right rear leg was up and I could see she had a bloodied rear hoof, her head was down, clearly quite distressed and in extreme pain.”

McKeown said he tried to keep the injured horse calm until they could find her owner.

“Half of Remi’s coat was soaked in sweat, and she kept trying to move ... The injured hoof was bleeding from the top and bottom continuously and the metal horseshoe was hanging by one nail and had rotated 90 degrees.”

Other neighbours gathered to help and it became a huge community effort to try to save Remi.

“We tried three times unsuccessfully to remove the shoe and that was when the whole hoof came off and lots more blood continuously flowed from the wound site.”

Fire and Emergency NZ said it had received a steady stream of calls throughout the evening caused by fireworks across the North Island, with at least 32 fires, including bush, tree and grass fires.

Animates chief executive Neil Cowie told The Front Page it was not only November 5 pet owners had to worry about.

“The bigger issue is the stockpiling of fireworks that get set off throughout the year, which really compounds the stress and the danger to animals,” he said.

“As a pet owner, I can take steps to safeguard my pets, look after them, lock them inside. It’s when you least expect it down the track that the real dangers and distress to animals come to the fore.

“I really feel for the wildlife, the birds, our livestock, horses, for instance.”

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.