by Fran Jurga | 7 April 2009 | The Jurga Report

The last time I checked,we’re in a lull between disasters here in the United States, except possibly for the Alaskan volcano causing a lot of respiratory sensitivity in horses. Hopefully, not too many horses were affected by the earthquake in Italy.

But if I log onto Twitter, I’m sure to find that something has gone wrong somewhere.

I have hoarded these two videos from Australia, and waited to post them now because we all know that the spring fire season and the winds will be starting soon, and it’s good to have some sobering reminders of how bad things can get.

But on another level, veterinarians have been taking a bashing lately on many fronts.(Have you read the blog “badvetsdaily.com”? Now there’s someone with an ax to grind!) There’s nothing like a disaster to bring out the good vets…or maybe it’s to bring the good out in every vet.

Meet Australia’s Drs. John Butler, who lost his house to the fire, but not his will to help animals, and Judith Mulholland, who drove from afar to help out however she can during the crisis.

Dr. Jude made this mini-documentary soon after the February 22nd disastrous wildfire ripped through a once horse-happy suburb of Melbourne. Click here to visit her terrific website.

Finally, here’s a horse owner re-united with what looks like an Arabian stallion in pretty good shape. The owner seems somewhat in shock still that her horse is in such good shape, while so many others are dead. She is a very lucky woman.

For Australia to have suffered the terrible insult of the equine influenza epidemic last year that shut down racing and showing and breeding, as well as a terrible drought and now to have this disaster to overcome, is quite a burden.

The economy is not any better there than it is here, but the people have surely shown us what strength of spirit and love for animals is all about.