Large watery environments such as the Everglades or Lake Okeechobee and alligators go together in Florida like central Florida pastureland and horses. But alligators and horses are not a good match, not in the Sunshine State or anywhere else, for that matter. And on May 28, an unexpected encounter between one gator and an equine occurred in Odessa, Fla., with unfortunate consequences for the latter.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office states that at approximately 8:30 p.m. an emergency call came in to report that an alligator had attacked a horse in pastureland off Gunn Highway. Deputies responded to the call and arrived on the scene to find a horse with a bite injury to one of its legs, and they found what they believed was the likely culprit, a 6-foot alligator.
The deputies contacted the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, who in turn dispatched a licensed trapper out to the site in order to catch the alligator, thought to have wandered in from a nearby lake. Meanwhile, the horse's owner spirited away the equine — which is expected to recover — in order to get medical attention.
"Without knowing the specifics of this unfortunate incident, it is safe to say that the strong jaws and potentially infectious bite of an alligator could have inflicted serious injuries as well as traumatized a horse," said Greg Grambor, president of Vascular PRN, which is headquartered in Tampa, Fla. "Aside from veterinary care, the horse might very well need physiotherapy to fully recover from its physical injuries and trauma."
The FWCC says that more and more Floridians living or recreating near wetland
Vascular PRN for Horses
Compression from the coronet band upwards to the elbow along with cold therapy is a ticket to healing.
s have been reporting alligator-linked complaints to the agency, which have been enough to necessitate the establishment of the state's Nuisance Alligator Program
to address the issue.
According to the Florida Department of Agriculture, there are some 299,000 horses in the state. The department also states that the horse industry generates a $6.5 billion impact on Florida's gross domestic product, produces goods and services valued at $2.2 billion, and employs 244,200 people.
"Marquee wildlife species such as alligators are a fact of life in Florida, but the horse industry and equine population are major fixtures in the state as well," Grambor said. "For whatever reason a horse may suffer a leg injury, horse owners will find that our facilities' horse compression system's combined sequential compression and cold therapy will provide the maximum therapeutic effectiveness that these equines need."
Learn more about Vascular PRN Veterinary: http://www.vascularprn.com/veterinary-division/
The Vascular PRN Horse Compression System is designed to effectively relieve swelling by utilizing cold and compression to progressively move fluid from leg. Each leg sleeve has four air chambers that inflate in sequence from the coronet band, upwards. When fully inflated the sleeve deflates and the cycle begins again. The system provides a soothing massage that increases circulation, reduces swelling and alleviates pain. Ordinary turbulator systems only provide simple, intermittent compression, while the Vascular PRN system’s multi‑air‑chamber, sequential approach applies more constant therapy — a feature that makes it vastly more effective. Along with simple pain relief, it is indicated for the treatment of trauma, cellulitis, thrombosis, lymphangitis and more.