Disinfecting Saddles

[chriscrogul]

Hi all, can somebody help please! I have sold a saddle on ebay to a lady in Australia. It was collected by Fed-Ex on Tuesday and today I got a call from their head office. Apparently Customs and Excise have quarantined the saddle and won't let it on the plane unless it is disinfected with Virkon or Virucide. I have phoned several large saddlers but no-one seems to know if this will damage the leather in any way. I seem to remember something you could disinfect tack with if it had been in contact with ringworm etc but I can't be sure. Does anyone on HHO know?

 

[mickey]

That sounds rather odd. I sold a saddle to someone in the US a year or so ago, it went via UPS no disinfection required. I really don't know if the formulations you mention would be toxic to the saddle - you will have to call the disinfectant manufacturers directly I would have thought.

 

[mandy4727]

I can try and find out for you. I work for a company that manufacture disinfectants for nursing homes, hospitals, vets and farms. Not been there long myself so not well up on what does what yet. But I can find out what will do the job and not damage the leather for you if you wish.

 

[flyingfeet]

You can get both those products from any saddler than is supplied by Trilanco - try the Trilanco website to find a retailer.

Cannot say I've heard of a saddle being quarantined before, but we've generally sent stuff to the USA not Oz.

 

[chriscrogul]

I can't treat it myself as its being held by customs (at the airport, I suppose). Thinking about it though, I would imagine that when exporting horses their equipment would need treating in some way to prevent spread of disease.