Josh Eustace, an MSc student of International Animal Welfare Law and Ethics (IAWEL) has launched an online survey through The University of Edinburgh for his dissertation aimed at horse owners/loaners, employees or managers/owners of yards who have experienced at least one case of strangles since January 2020. 

Strangles is the most common infectious disease in equids in the UK, with about 300 outbreaks occurring each year. Alongside presenting a major welfare concern to infected animals, outbreaks often cause serious stress to their owners and others involved in their care, while also representing significant economic challenges to those running businesses reliant on healthy yards and horses. Redwings has been campaigning on the issue for years and you can read more about it in their dedicated strangles hub.

Taking 10-15 minutes of your time to fill out this survey (link below) will help us to identify common factors associated with outbreaks. This will provide all of us involved with equids with up-to-date information on how best to avoid strangles spreading between yards going forward, in practical and achievable ways. 

Take the survey here: app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/edinburgh/survey-of-owners-who-have-experienced-a-strangles-outbreak

This survey has been designed under the supervision of Dr Richard Newton from Equine Infectious Disease Surveillance (EIDS), Dr Scott Pirie and Dr Marie Rowland from The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, along with the help and support from Helen Whitelegg, Policy and Research Officer at Redwings.