A group of volunteer vets in the flooded north of NSW has warned of a post-flood epidemic for livestock, and the need for better animal recovery efforts in the future.
While authorities have been unable to provide a final figure on livestock deaths and injury, vets working in the area told AAP thousands of animals have died and thousands more are at risk.
Dr Oliver Liyou is one of dozens of volunteer vets who worked 16 hour days as he coordinated the rescue and treatment of animals in the disaster zone over the past fortnight.
Dr Liyou said for the first 11 days volunteers were left to fundraise and coordinate animal rescues while "red tape" slowed government efforts down.
"The people that work in the government departments are all good people... they were just hamstrung by red tape that precluded them from taking any useful action," Dr Liyou said.
He said at first the government hotline number was useless because of unreliable communications, and a "big system fail" saw volunteers left to coordinate animal recovery efforts.
Vets have issued an urgent warning that thousands of flood impacted animals are still at risk from diseases, and urged owners whose animals were swept into or stood in floodwaters to get them checked.
Dr Liyou who specialises in equine veterinary told AAP swamp cancer is of particular concern for horses, and that several cases have already been recorded.
"Don't assume that your horse is OK just because it's eating and drinking, it's likely it needs a thorough vet test," he said.
"We're coming up to three weeks post flood, and once some of these conditions get to a point you can't do anything and you have to put the horse down."
Semi-retired vet Chris Barton and his wife are part of a team called Vets for Compassion, who travelled from Melbourne last week to help around Lismore.
The 73-year-old said while there had been a huge area to cover, flood recovery efforts for animals were too reliant on volunteers, and he warned the animal death toll will rise significantly.
He said the picture was devastating: "Bodies of animals are just piled up, and the stench."
"Think of the suffering, some of these animals were swimming for three to four days and then they eventually died. There was nowhere to swim to."
AAP spoke to him as he was examining a rescued donkey.
"The bureaucrats can't get their act together, nobody wants to take responsibility, nobody wants to make a decision that they're accounted for," he told AAP.
The NSW Department of Primary Industry has been contacted for comment.
A spokesperson said a government hotline had so far received more than 1900 calls from farmers requesting help.
Australian Associated Press
