Harley: Birth of a Champion is Harley the horse's debut in the publishing world. Based on the true story of Lee Ann Rust, Women's Professional Rodeo Association's (WRPA) 2011 Rookie Of The Year, the book follows the first years in the life of an international champion rodeo horse, told straight from the horse's mouth.
Triplicane
and its cattle – reams have been written – the local Councillor initiated good
measure, finding a place below MRTS – many have moved – still you find small
herds on the roads. Recently, at few
smaller lanes leading to the Beach road, ramblers were put up – to prevent the
stray cattle venturing on the beach road.
The road is yet to be reopened for the public; but the other day, was
surprised to see a buffalo casually stroll over.
The
subject matter of this post – Harley, has no great looks nor has any phenomenal
traits – it is a small horse that has lived in Summer hill for 15 years – his
owner had the habit of walking him around the local suburbs – perhaps not any
longer as the Ashfield Council has told it is time to go by !
Harley,
the horse has lived in a Summer Hill backyard for almost 15 years but now his
time is up. Ashfield Council informed his owner he has 21 days to respond to an
order “to cease keeping the horse on the property”. Over the last decade,
neighbours have complained about numerous issues, including flies, smells and
waste removal. But the horse’s owner, Eric Findlay, has always managed to have
things looking spic and span for council inspections, and Harley has stayed
put.
Harley
is a familiar sight in the neighbourhood as Mr Findlay walks the horse around
the streets of Summer Hill. The horse has been seen being led out of the front
door for his daily exercise. But a series of recent complaints forced the
council officers to take a stronger approach. Last Monday they informed Mr
Findlay that it was time for Harley to go.“Council officers have inspected the
property on many occasions over the years and in February we received
complaints regarding the general condition of the yard within which the pony
was being kept and the nuisance arising from odours and flies emanating from
this area,” a council spokeswoman said.
“At
that time, the owner agreed to improve efforts to keep the yard area in a clean
and tidy condition in accordance with the terms set out by the council in its
decision in December 2003. The recent inspections
revealed that the yard area, once again, is not being maintained to a
satisfactory standard as required by terms set by Council. The council
spokeswoman said that the officers had reported waste from the pony, including
urine and droppings, in the yard and “unpleasant smells emanating from and
flies being attracted to the area as a result of this exposed waste.” She said
“this is not an acceptable situation for neighbours to tolerate or conducive to
the general health and well being of the community”.
“With
the coming warmer months, if this situation were to continue the adverse
amenity impacts are likely to worsen,” she said.“As ongoing maintenance is not
being carried out to a satisfactory standard to keep the yard in a clean and
tidy manner, free of odours, the Council is now of the view that the most
appropriate response is for the pony to be relocated to a more suitable area,
which is not in a densely populated residential context and can potentially
offer more space within which the pony could exercise and move about.“The
Council recognises that this would be a significant change to the current
circumstances and is prepared to assist in this relocation process.”
Mr
Findlay has been issued with an order and the terms of the Notice require a response
within 21 days, before November 16.Mr Findlay did not want to talk to the Inner
West Courier when he was approached while walking Harley on Moonbie St.A
spokeswoman from Ashfield Council said that she thought the owner would fight
the Notice. Anyone who lives in the Dulwich Hill area would know about the
horse, because the owner walks it in that direction every day. The NSW
Department of Agriculture website has guidelines for caring for horses in urban
areas.
The
guidelines suggest minimum standards for the housing of horses including that
ideally they should be kept in a paddock of 1 hectare (a minimum 0.4 hectare). The earlier guidelines of the Council
included : removal of manure; cleaning of wood chips and the like. Harley’s owner was advised to place manure
only in their own rubbish bin and remove any spilt or deposited horse manure
outside the property immediately. The rules further wanted a barrier be
installed to keep the pony away from the common side boundary fence and no other
pony or horse be kept on premises at any time
So
it looks curtains for Harley at present - !
With
regards – S. Sampathkumar
3rd
Nov. 2015
Story source : www.dailytelegraph.com.au
