A NSW Government review has been ordered into the decision to euthanase eight horses after a truck crash near Dubbo amid allegations that some of the animals had not suffered serious injuries.

The vehicle overturned at Brocklehurst on the morning of May 26 while transporting 17 horses to a competition in Tamworth.

Racing identity Ken Smith, 64, from Young, was killed in the crash and the driver, his son Trent Smith, has now been charged with five offences including dangerous driving occasioning death.

WARNING: The following image is of a graphic nature and may cause distress.

Eight of the horses were euthanased at the scene by a NSW Government Local Land Services (LLS) officer, one died in the accident, and the remaining eight have been treated by Dubbo equine veterinarian Ross Pedrana.

Dr Pedrana said he was deeply concerned by the treatment of the injured horses, alleging no equine specialists were contacted to assess or aid the sports horses.

"I'm distressed, a lot of us are distressed, at what went on and just the complete lack of communication. I just can not understand it," Dr Pedrana said.

"It's extremely distressing to know that there were horses that may have been able to be saved.

"Secondly, that these horses weren't rendered veterinary care and pain relief immediately from their exit from the truck."

Dr Pedrana said he was only made aware of the incident when he received a call from a witness almost three hours after the incident occurred.

"The horses were severely distressed. We had some horses urinating red from the extent of the muscle injury that they'd sustained. That takes quite a while to occur," he said.

"No horse had had any pain relief, no one had administered anything of any nature because there was no one there who had any medication or drugs."

In a statement, the LLS said that one of its vets was at the scene to assess the horses' injuries with an RSPCA officer present to oversee the treatment.

These horses were euthanased at the truck accident near Dubbo in May in which one man died and a youth was seriously injured. ( Supplied: Ross Pedrana )

LLS said it followed the required NSW Department of Primary Industries Animal Welfare Policies and Procedures at the scene.

"Local Land Services veterinarians and RSPCA staff were on site as per the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act," the statement said. "Local Land Services staff follow NSW DPI Animal Welfare Policies and Procedures when responding to truck roll over emergencies and have completed industry based training in the humane destruction of livestock. "Local Land Services is working closely with the Equine Veterinary Association in reviewing the incident."

The review is being undertaken by the LLS, alongside the groups Equine Veterinarians Australia and the Australian Veterinary Association.

Eight horses euthanased

Eight horses had been euthanased by an LLS officer before Dr Pedrana arrived, and he said he was concerned that some of the horses could have been saved.

An autopsy was performed on two of the euthanased horses by Ken Jacobs, with the results finding it was likely neither suffered life-threatening injuries.

The remaining six horses were buried at Whylandra Waste Disposal, near Dubbo, on the orders of the local council.

Dr Pedrana claims they could not be part of the autopsy because they were not exhumed in time.

"As for the rest of them, we can't comment because we weren't granted access to those animals within a reasonable period of time by Dubbo Regional Council," Dr Pedrana said.

In a statement, the Dubbo Regional Council has denied the claims, saying they were first notified of the request on a Wednesday afternoon and authority was approved that afternoon.

"Council was notified by a local vet on the Wednesday morning that he wished to examine the remains," the statement read. "Access was denied as there was no documentation to prove he was acting on behalf of the owners and he had not provided an appropriate plan to recover these remains, given the numerous risks which existed particularly in relation to workplace safety and biosecurity issues at the Whylandra landfill. "He was provided authority late on Wednesday, and on Thursday was provided with the terms and conditions of Council to remove the animals from the site, taking into account the appropriate risk management issues."

Calling for change

The NSW Minister for Primary Industries, Niall Blair, met with the owners of one of the horses and Mr Jacobs, who conducted the autopsy, earlier this month to discuss the matter.

Moore Metal was lucky to survive the fatal truck accident and is still being treated by Ross Pedrana. ( ABC Western Plains: Lucy Thackray )

Dr Pedrana said he hopes there will be a change in policy to ensure it is mandatory to contact equine vet during accidents involving horses.

"What we'd like to see is out of this become some sort of policy or procedure or protocol that's followed so that people have a go-to list of equine veterinarians in their area that are willing to assist in these sorts of accidents," he said.

Dr Pedrana said it was currently only an unofficial practice for himself or another equine vet to be called when incidents occur involving horses.

"I'm not sure why [it's not official]. I think there must be a chain of command that police call Local Land Services, [NSW] Ambulance and all these other agencies, and try to keep it within Government," Dr Pedrana said.

"Unfortunately Local Land Services veterinarians, by-and-large most of them, aren't qualified, trained or have the equipment to manage horse injuries."

The two groups working with the Government on the review, Equine Veterinarians Australia and Australian Veterinary Association, are providing expertise on areas including equine rescue techniques, commonly used equine triage protocols, and outcomes after significant equine injuries.

"Following this recent tragedy, the Australian Veterinary Association's equine group, Equine Veterinarians Australia, wrote to the three departmental chiefs responsible for the agencies that respond to animal transport accidents; Local Land Services, Biosecurity NSW and NSW Police," the groups said in a joint statement.