New project protects livestock in emergencies
Given the vastness of the Peace region and the amount of heavy equipment traffic on the highways, it’s only a matter of time before livestock will need to be rescued, according to Sherri Collins of the North Peace Cattlemen’s Association. For that reason, the Cattlemen have spent the last couple of years working to bring the Emergency Livestock Response Project to the region.
The project consists of an Emergency Livestock Response Trailer, which is an enclosed trailer containing equipment used to help livestock during an emergency, and an MVT Ranch Hand Portable Livestock Handling System.
“The project is actually a two-part project, one is the enclosed emergency response trailer that has inventory in it, that would be available to use at an emergency, whether that emergency is for cattle, horses, sheep or goats, it’s for all livestock,” said Collins.
The second part is the MVT Ranch Hand Portable Livestock Handling System, which can easily be pulled behind a pickup truck to wherever it’s needed.
“It all unfolds within five minutes and holds up to 120 cows,” said Collins. “You can gather and get livestock moved if there was a liner roll-over on the highway, set it up to help gather critters so they’re not running amuck on the highway.”
A trailer for hauling livestock is not part of the project, Collins noted. It is up to the livestock owner to arrange for the transportation of the animals.
Previously there were two emergency livestock trailers in the province, one in the Kootenays and one in the Cariboo, but none elsewhere, until this year when thanks to a $96,500 grant from the BC Government’s Food Security Emergency Planning and Preparedness Fund, the Cattlemen were able to bring the Emergency Livestock Response Project north.
The emergency response trailer and the MVT portable handling system have arrived in the North Peace this spring and the Cattlemen have reached out to let the Peace River Regional District and Emergency Response know that they’re available in the event of an emergency involving livestock.
“We’ve been in contact with emergency response and the regional district so that everybody is aware of the project, so that we can all work together,” Collins said.