By Ruth Le Cocq
Over 100 comments supporting a planning application for an equine wellness centre in Trinity have been posted online as Jersey’s equine community unites to try to save horses in pain from travelling off the Island for treatment.
And the proposed facility at Les Platons, on the site of an established livery stables, could also save the lives of those horses who colic and are currently euthanised because of a lack of suitable facilities to treat their condition.
The design proposal, created by PAGE Architects Ltd, states that Jersey is ‘desperately in need’ of the facility which will include an operating theatre, recovery and rehabilitation boxes, controlled grazing areas and a water treadmill. It is hoped that routine operations, procedures and rehabilitation could be undertaken on horses and ponies including injections, lasering, ultrasound, scanning, endoscopy, biopsies and x-rays.
The JSPCA, the British Showjumping (Jersey) Association, and a retired vet have provided supporting statements to accompany the application suggesting that the facility could also act as a training centre for newly qualified vets returning to the Island and encourage local vets to advance their skills.
