Safe fence campaign keeps cows off roads

Mark Lewis wants to educate land owners in areas where wandering cows and horses are a threat to motorists. Picture / Alan Gibson

Secure stock is an issue Mark Lewis takes seriously.

Eighteen years ago, his pregnant cousin was killed when her car hit cows that had escaped from a paddock through a gate held together by a piece of wire.

Since then Mr Lewis, who lives in Otoko, about 50km north of Gisborne, has watched in dismay as others have died or been maimed in accidents involving wandering stock.

The 44-year-old says many of the accidents are the result of poor fencing and has launched a campaign called Safefence to educate landowners and provide emergency fencing in areas where stock threaten motorists.

"Most people say it's not their problem, but it is their problem when they hit a cow," Mr Lewis said yesterday.

On Monday a person narrowly avoided injury when one of three horses loose on State Highway 1 at Waitahanui, south of Taupo, hit a ute. The horse had to be destroyed.

Three weeks ago, an elderly woman was killed when a horse escaped from a paddock at night in Te Teko, west of Whakatane, and was hit by a car. The horse also died.

For Mr Lewis, a part-time caregiver, the catalyst for setting up Safefence was his cousin's death and witnessing an accident in which a man was left paralysed when a car hit a cow near his home.

Mr Lewis launched the charitable foundation in May, providing free, temporary repairs to fences in his area with holes or insecure gates.

He also rewards farmers with secure fencing by putting a box of chocolates and a letter about Safefence in their mailboxes.

He hopes to raise enough money through sponsors to buy a vehicle to respond to calls for emergency fencing and eventually would like to expand the project nationwide with a fleet of Safefence vehicles.

Transit New Zealand welcomed any effort aimed at keeping fences up to scratch and stock secure, saying road accidents involving large animals such as cows and horses often resulted in serious injury.

Waikato/Bay of Plenty regional operations manager Kaye Clark said 122 crashes involving stock on roads had happened in the past five years out of a total of more than 12,000 crashes.

"It's not a huge proportion, but it's nasty when it happens," she said.

Police and the SPCA said the problem of wandering stock was worst in isolated areas.

Senior Sergeant Mark van der Kley of Kawerau said problems with wandering horses were widespread in Bay of Plenty and the East Cape, but poor fencing was not the only culprit.

"There's also a bit of an attitude that the verge is property to be used by horses."

He said in some cases, police were forced to shoot horses found on rural roads to protect motorists' safety.

"It's not easy to chase a horse down a verge in a [patrol] car so you are limited in what you can do."

Seven horses have died on roads around Taupo and Turangi recently, prompting police there to warn owners to keep them well-fed as well as secure, saying animals were more likely to wander when grass was scarce.

Senior SPCA inspector Jim Boyd, based in Northland, said owners had a legal responsibility to keep their animals safe.

* Mark Lewis can be contacted at Safefence