The death of a horse at Kaikohe, believed to be the result of taking fright when revellers welcomed the new year with fireworks, orphaned a 10-day-old foal and has reignited calls for fireworks to be banned.
Occupants of the property found the injured horse, which had collapsed at the bottomof a hill, early on New Year's Day, with her foal crouching next to her. The mare had lost a great deal of blood from a broken leg joint according to horse breeder Don Harrison, owner of the stud where she was bred.
She would have been in immense pain, he added, between the midnight fireworks displays until her death at around 6am.
The property overlooked the Kaikohe town centre where a number of fireworks were let off on New Year's Eve.
"Fireworks were booming flat out most of [Tuesday] night," Mr Harrison said.
"These fireworks should be banned. They are a ridiculous hazard for lots of animals, not only horses. They get absolutely terrified."
Bay of Islands SPCA animal welfare officer Wendy Locke was alerted to the incident, but the horse had died by the time she arrived.
"There were lots of fireworks for New Year's, and the horse was obviously pretty stressed from the noise of it, and had been galloping around. We aren't sure if she's gone through a fence or what, but it was really not a good [injury].
"It was really sad turning up and seeing the leg like that and this little baby foal cuddled up with Mum," she said.
The foal was dehydrated, but had responded well after taking milk from another mare.
Ms Locke agreed with Mr Harrison that the incident served as a further warning about the danger of fireworks.
"Kaikohe was pretty rife with fireworks [on Tuesday night], over the back of the farm and out the front over the Kaikohe township," she said.
"I don't support the private use and sale of fireworks to the public for reasons like this. All sorts of stock, horses in particular, can become highly stressed."
