Bushfire horse death compo case settled
Bushfire horse death compo case settled
13 July 2006
published by news.ninemsn.com.au
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia — Owners who watched their horses die horrific deaths after eating Paterson’s curse have reached a settlement with two agistment companies.
The horses died from liver failure after eating the toxic agricultural weed which had bloomed from the ashes of the 2003 Canberra bushfires.
Agistment companies Lions Youth Haven and Stromlo Equestrian Centre have agreed to pay four horse owners a total of $50,000, plus legal costs.
Each lost a horse.
Slater and Gordon lawyer Emma Hines represented the horse owners.
She said if the warnings of a Paterson’s curse infestation had been heeded the horses would not have died.
“Instead, these horses died a traumatic death many months after the fires because Paterson’s curse was allowed to grow,” Ms Hines said.
“While the deaths of these much loved animals cannot compare to the tragedy of the four people who died … the deaths of these animals still caused considerable pain and anguish to the families affected.”
Peterson’s curse is also known as Lachlan lilac, Murrumbidgee sweetpea, Riverina bluebell and Salvation Jane.
