Jenna Kelley not only loves riding horses - she wants to make sure they are safe in emergencies too
AEL blogger Jenna Kelley never ceases to amaze us with her initiatives and her latest community project is one near to her heart as well as ours
Jenna, who was awarded the National Emergency Medal for her work in the 2009 Victorian fires known as 'Black Saturday', is a keen horse rider and lover. Her experience during Black Saturday and other fires she has attended as a CFSA volunteer led her to create the Walking Forward Disaster Relief Team in 2012
Now Jenna has persuaded Victoria’s Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley that there is a sad lack of safe refuge facilities for animals during evacuation from bushfire and other emergencies. From this, the National Equine Database (NED) has been created as a partnership between the CFA and Walking Forward Disaster Relief Team
The recently launched database provides a link between horse owners requiring refuge to landholders who can temporarily house animals
Victoria currently has nine NED sites listed, but, if we know Jenna, this will soon grow throughout Australia and hopefully a sponsor can be found to contribute towards the ongoing costs of the project
To register with the NED site or find out more information, visit https://www.tepscon.community/
