I lost william to grass sickness on the 30th April 2011, and was totally devastated. I had never heard of grass sickness before until william got it. Grass sickness causes partial or complete paralysis of the digestive system. I have started a group on facebook in memory of william to try and spread awareness of this awful disease as I have realised there are alot of horse owners who have not heard of it. I will never forget his face over that stable door looking so depressed, and it breaks my heart that I did not know the night I left him in hospital that that would be the last time I would see him alive. He was put to sleep the next morning as nothing could be done.

For my full story please look at the following website, click on news tab and then click on William, he has his own page!! The website is also full of information on grass sickness

www.grasssickness.org.uk

This year is a very important year for grass sickness as the British Horse Society is backing the national campaign to raise funds for the full vaccine trial, this is a massive leap forward for the charity.!!

I am holding a raffle to raise funds for the Equine grass sickness fund in aid of the full vaccine trial.

When you have made a donation just let me know and I will allocate you your raffle ticket numbers. for details please message me on my facebook page or email me at ullaballetta@hotmail.co.uk. or on my grass sickness page on facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/219636401382141/

Please remember as you are receiving a raffle ticket you will not be able to do gift aid.

Tickets are £1 each or a strip of 6 for £5. If you dont want to buy a raffle ticket you can still support the charity by donating to this page.  Please help to raise funds for the full vaccine trial and equine grass sickness research, they do brilliant work. They:-

Support vital research into grass sickness in an effort to find the cause

• Support the treatment of chronic grass sickness cases at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies.
• Offer practical advice and support to owners of affected horses and ponies in the UK and abroad.
• Provide information on their website.

Also the development of a special nursing regime, pioneered by a team at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, has led to a substantial increase in the number of chronic cases being restored to health, throughout the U.K. The Fund continues to subsidise the treatment of chronic cases admitted to the 'Dick' Vet.

The main line of investigation at present is the role of soil borne Clostridium botulinum type C as the cause of grass sickness. If it can be proved that EGS is caused by toxico-infectious botulism this would enable owners to protect their horses from EGS by vaccination in the future.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.