The Australian Cattle Veterinarians association has donated $21,800 towards North Queensland flood relief in the aftermath of February’s devastating flood event.

Fundraising took place during the ACV Annual Dinner on the Gold Coast in March, with the final amount raised through a raffle, an online Facebook auction and live charity auction.

“The aftermath of the floods continues to be felt by the communities of North Queensland, both on farms and in the local businesses that support them,” AVA president Dr Paula Parker said.

“This secondary impact can threaten the viability of regional small business that, although vital to the community, are not directly involved in farming. For this reason, the AVA and ACV were proud to support the local charity Sisters of the North Inc through the recent ACV charity auction,” she said.

The first priority for cattle vets and animal health product companies after North Queensland’s February floods was to provide urgent veterinary assistance and animal health advice and medication to help mitigate the animal welfare disaster created by the floods, Dr Parker said.

“That included coordinating urgent distribution of donated medications and animal health products, providing animal health fact sheets, and establishing a 24-hour veterinary hotline manned by volunteer veterinarians,” she said.

Dr Parker said it was an outstanding result for the flood-affected communities in the north.

“Our members were passionate about supporting the Sisters of the North Charity for this event. The Sisters of the North use donated funds to provide voucher assistance, redeemable at local businesses, to members of flood-affected communities. This model ensures that the benefits of the donated funds stay in the region and helps support the whole community doing it tough in the coming months as they recover from the floods,” she.

The ACV and AVA acknowledged various companies which made generous donations to the recovery efforts and the charity auction including Provet, Zoetis, Troy, Apiam Animal Health, Hills, Norbrook, Bayer, Idexx, Boehringer Ingelheim, Vetoquinol, Phibro, Zebravet, QSML, Ausrichter, Virbac, Coopers Animal Health, Livestock Health Systems, The Vet Group and Fraser Livestock Transport.

Source: AVA