Medical experts say dozens of horses in Florida were exposed to toxic weed found in hay
By Sooji Nam
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WELLINGTON, Florida (WPBF) — An internal medicine doctor in Wellington says about 60 to 75 horses have been potentially exposed to Hoary Alyssum, a toxic weed, that was found in a recent batch of hay.
Red Barn Feed and Supply in Loxahatchee and County Line Feed & Supply Inc. in Boynton Beach said they sold batches of 2095 T&A hay from Michigan.
“Horses do a pretty good job of avoiding the toxin when it’s fresh in the field, but when it’s cured in hay, they’ll often miss it,” Dr. Peter Heidmann, the head of internal medicine at Palm Beach Equine Clinic in Wellington, told WPBF 25 News.
Horse owners and caretakers in Palm Beach County said they were shocked and have never experienced something like this before.
“At that time when I had found out, already 8 horses have died,” Jeri Caprio of Horses and Houses, told WPBF 25 News.
Caprio said many of her neighbors in Wellington have been caring for their sick horses in the past few days.
“I told them, ‘If you have hay from there, burn it, do whatever, stop feeding it, and call your vet,'” she said.
“It’ll cause skin irritation and skin swelling. In larger doses, or when it’s eaten, it can cause diarrhea, fevers, colic symptoms. The most dire of these usually is inflammation of the feet,” Heidmann said. “There’s not a specific test for the presence of the weed. So, horse owners or the people feeding the horses have to be actually looking through the hay samples in order to look for the presence of the weed.”
The two stores in Palm Beach County that carried the T&A hay urged customers to return the batch of hay for a refund.
“Be an educated consumer. Not that I would have caught it, because it was a little white-colored, gray-colored weed. But you do that to look, in my many years in horses, I have sent back a lot of hay,” Caprio said.
She said she is grateful her horses did not consume the hay.
“It’s a mixed hay, and it’s hard to see. And let’s hope it never happens again,” she said.
Medical experts urge owners and caretakers to bring their horses to the hospital as soon as possible if their horses are showing any symptoms.
On what owners should be on the lookout for, Heidmann said, “Measuring horses’ body temperature, looking for abnormal swelling, lethargy.”
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