North Peace Cattlemen unveil Emergency Livestock Response Project
After receiving word that their grant application was approved in March this year, the North Peace Cattlemen’s Association was free to go ahead with the Emergency Livestock Response Project the group had been working on for a couple of years, spearheaded by Association member Sherri Collins.
“Things were moving fast and we wanted this up and running as quickly as possible in case we needed it. Now it’s officially up and running and available for use,” Collins said at the unveiling on July 4.
Thanks to the $96,500 grant from the BC Government’s Food Security Emergency Planning and Preparedness Fund, and the support of local sponsors, the Cattlemen were able to acquire all the parts of the project, which are now up and running and available for use. This is the third such project in the province, the others are in the Cariboo and the Kootenays.
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. These two pieces of equipment will enable livestock owners to rescue animals in the event of an accident on the highway, or move livestock to safety ahead of a natural disaster such as wildfire.
“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 amock 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.
In addition to the Province of BC, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the Food Security, Emergency Planning and Preparedness Fund, Collins and the Cattlemen’s Association would like to thank local sponsors, the North Peace Vet Clinic, Smith Fuels Services, Butler Farm Equipment and K-MAC Signs, for their support throughout the project.