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Howard, maybe this is
relevant, maybe not, but it might show you why passports, be they FEI or any
other organisation, are a good idea.
We have African Horse
Sickness. All over SA, except for one tiny, teeny little area (about 6
square kms) in Cape Town. No horse is allowed into this area unless it's
carrying a passport which indicates that it's been innoculated against
AHS. Why? Because without our "quarantine zone", we wouldn't be able
to send our horses overseas, for sale or to compete.
Those passports are there to
protect us, not only as individuals, but as a competing nation.
I understand that you don't
have AHS. But you DO have EPM. We don't. So, if we ever got to
host the Olympics (please, God!), any horses coming from America would have to
be certified, in their passports, as having had a Coggins test (am I
right? Is the Coggins for EPM, or is that another test?) Anyway, the
principle is the same. The passport allows for the safety of international
competitors, to ensure that "foreign" diseases aren't brought back
home.
Do you have any idea what AHS
could do to your Equine population, which has never been exposed to it?
Ever watched a horse bleed to death, with blood pouring out of eyes, ears, nose,
mouth?
And I know that you don't want
to compete internationally, Howard, we've established that. But others
do.
It's not an inconvenience, any
more than a seatbelt is.
And Howard : Aussies?
You support the Aussies????
I am so not going to speak to
you again!
Tracey
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