Over 20 years of animal negligence needs to end! The Cartmill Centre Burpengary Riding for Disabled has a long and tragic history of abandoning horses during flood events. For more than 20 years they have regularly failed to provide safe haven to horses on their property during predicted and actual flood events. In 2009 horses were left locked in stables that are below flood level (2 drowned and 17 injured that year) and management regularly leave them in the low lying paddocks bordered by a creek prone to flash flooding.  2015, after 3 horses were washed away from the Cartmill Centre the local council worked to implement a disaster management plan (DMP) which included the construction of a safe holding area a short walking distance from the centre. This management plan was developed in response to public pressure at the time, and the plan was supposed to ensure all horses would be evacuated to safety in a timely manner. Last Sunday night, June 19, 2016 the disaster plan was set into action by council, following widely publicised predictions of heavy rainfall that weekend however, the Cartmill Centre management committee chose to ignore the 3 warnings sent that afternoon and evening of the rising flood waters and 21 horses and ponies were once again left to fend for themselves, and not evacuated as per the DMP.     The horses were left to the fate of the weather and a fast rising creek, and were unnecessarily subject to exposure to the freezing cold, fast flowing water that rose to over a metre in the paddock they were abandoned in. The RSPCA OFFICER STATED THAT THE SMALLER PONIES WOULD HAVE BEEN SWIMMING at this stage. To the best of public knowledge, no horses were washed away or drowned as in previous events, however this was due to good luck and not good management. These horses, who serve our disabled community in a hugely important capacity are loved and needed by those who are often our most vulnerable. We shall not rest until the management committee of the Cartmill Centre Burpengary put the welfare of their horses as the highest priority. These horses deserve respect and care and their safety in this flood prone property must be paramount.   We, the community, are petitioning to have the Cartmill Centre’s Management investigated by the RSPCA and the relevant Queensland Government Departments.   THE FOLLOWING IS FROM 2009 WHEN HORSES WERE LOST, YOU WOULD HAVE TO ASK WHY THESE HORSES ARE STILL IN DANGER IN 2016. Article from 2009 Bobby, the Shetland pony friend of Manny, who drowned in the Queensland floods, has survived the deluge that devastated Cartmill Centre Riding for the Disabled at Burpengary. The plucky little horse, 20 years old, and a favourite of the RDA’s students and volunteers alike, was rescued at the height of the floods when RSPCA officers spotted his muzzle poking out above the flood water that had submerged the centre’s stables. Bobby had survived by swimming in the flooded stable for hours until he finally got his hooves hooked on the top rail of the stable. “He was hanging on for dear life,” Cartmill Centre president Jane Sayer said. Bobby is recuperating though he still has a mysterious illness which vets have been unable to identify. Ms Sayer believes he is grieving for his lost mate. The centre, which lost two horses in the floods and most of its equipment, has been inundated with offers of support after the story ran in a local paper. Ms Sayer believes that Bobby is now a symbol for the centre’s survival and she says that if he could hang on and survive, so can they. Cartmill Centre Riding for the Disabled still needs sponsorship for items such as helmets ($60), saddles ($400) and tack, and horses ($1000). If you can provide any of the above visit the centre at Burpengary’s Cartmill Centre, Kilikenny Rd, Burpengary on Wednesdays, Thursdays or Saturdays between 9am-midday. Other items needed are office supplies, large washing machines, steel stationery cupboards, sawdust or decomposed granite. Phone