http://www.theeagle.com/stories/071806/local_20060718011.php
Vets investigate horse deaths
By HOLLY HUFFMAN
Eagle Staff Writer
State veterinarians on Monday were investigating the mysterious, overnight deaths of two dozen horses housed at a Brazos County stable - the most unusual mass horse casualty in recent memory, according to animal health officials.
The horses had been boarded at Carousel Acres Equestrian Center and Stable in southern Brazos County. The first horse appears to have gotten sick at about 4 p.m. Sunday and, one by one, 23 more fell ill and died, stable owner Beverly Raphel said.
Another 11 were sick but recovering - five at the Texas A&M University's Large Animal Clinic and six at Carousel Acres, where they were being treated by medical personnel, Aggieland Animal Health Center Veterinarian Barbara Hannes said. Hannes was the first doctor to arrive Sunday at the stable.
The cause of the outbreak had not been pinpointed late Monday, but Hannes did point to the possibility that the horses' feed had been contaminated by a toxin.
A Brazos County sheriff's deputy was called to the scene but Sheriff Chris Kirk said his department had not launched a formal investigation because it appeared the horses were accidentally poisoned after eating feed treated for weevils.
Raphel said she found the first ailing horse after she arrived home from practice with the Texas Ladies Aside, an equestrian drill team.
With temperatures hovering just below 100 degrees, Raphel said she and husband Bradley Raphel - co-owners since 1998 - assumed the horse was suffering from heat exhaustion and began trying to cool the animal down. But their efforts didn't work, she said, and neither did efforts made by veterinarians who had come to help.
"After a while, after you've worked on them after one or two die, it starts dawning on you it's not heat exhaustion. There's too many sick," Raphel said Monday afternoon, her voice weak and sorrowful.
Raphel said about two-thirds of the affected horses belonged to her and her husband. The remaining animals were being boarded at the facility, she said.
"We lost our main stallion and we lost some of our babies. We lost some of our top mares and, of course, our borders' horses are important too," Raphel said. "It's a tragedy. It's just hard to believe something like that could happen."
Panic seemed to seep through the Brazos Valley agricultural community as news of the mass casualties spread through Bryan and College Station. But A&M officials tried to allay residents' worries.
Texas A&M's College of Veterinary Medicine Dean H. Richard Adams has not seen or treated the affected horses, but said based on historical data he thought it unlikely that such an incident would be caused by a virus or disease. It would take more than a few hours for a disease - which has incubation and infectious stages- to spread from horse to horse, he said.
"This event itself is an extraordinarily uncommon event. It suggests that something in that environment proved to be highly toxic to those animals," Adams said. "But as to what it is and to the source it's going to take some diagnostic testing before those questions can be answered."
Adams said it likely would take several days before results were returned. The Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Lab collected samples of feed and bedding at the stable and will run tests for unusual compounds. Necropsies are being performed on the dead horses, he said.
Meanwhile, doctors at the vet clinic were focusing on the five horses in their care, working to keep them medically stable and preparing to treat any symptoms that might occur.
The A&M vet clinic collaborates with the College Station-based diagnostic lab, which is a part of the A&M System, but the two are independent entities, Adams said.
Representatives with the Brazos County Health Department said they were unaware of the horse casualties and not involved in the investigation.
Late Monday, Raphel recalled how frightened she was as she sat with the dying horses. It seemed to take forever for help to arrive, she said. But slowly dozens of people -community members, veterinarians and even volunteer firefighters - began to arrive, and Raphel felt a sense of appreciation flood over her, she said.
Many of those horse-lovers remained at the stable throughout the night as they kept watch over the dozens of remaining horses.
Sandra Smith, a College Station chiropractor, was one of the devoted. She arrived at about 6 p.m. and spent about eight hours vigilantly watching over both her horse, a Peruvian Paso, and others. The horses seemed to be stricken at random with the illness, she said, explaining that owners with two horses might have one that was sick and one that seemed fine.
"It was just heartbreaking to see the animals," added Smith, whose horse, Orion, has not yet shown any symptoms. "Everybody just really, really worked like Trojans. Everybody that was out there just gave their whole heart and soul to try and make the difference and just couldn't."
All the remaining horses were given new hay and feed as a precautionary measure, Smith said, adding that anything that might have been contaminated was removed.
On Monday afternoon, Smith expressed sympathy for the Raphels, who often work with young children and the disabled at their equine center. She wept as she recalled friends' horses that also were boarded at the stable but hadn't been as lucky as 11-year-old Orion, whom she bought from the Raphels last August.
"I had learned to love them even though they didn't belong directly to me," Smith said. "You learn to love them all."
- Holly Huffman's e-mail address is holly.huffman@theeagle.com.
Vets investigate horse deaths
By HOLLY HUFFMAN
Eagle Staff Writer
State veterinarians on Monday were investigating the mysterious, overnight deaths of two dozen horses housed at a Brazos County stable - the most unusual mass horse casualty in recent memory, according to animal health officials.
The horses had been boarded at Carousel Acres Equestrian Center and Stable in southern Brazos County. The first horse appears to have gotten sick at about 4 p.m. Sunday and, one by one, 23 more fell ill and died, stable owner Beverly Raphel said.
Another 11 were sick but recovering - five at the Texas A&M University's Large Animal Clinic and six at Carousel Acres, where they were being treated by medical personnel, Aggieland Animal Health Center Veterinarian Barbara Hannes said. Hannes was the first doctor to arrive Sunday at the stable.
The cause of the outbreak had not been pinpointed late Monday, but Hannes did point to the possibility that the horses' feed had been contaminated by a toxin.
A Brazos County sheriff's deputy was called to the scene but Sheriff Chris Kirk said his department had not launched a formal investigation because it appeared the horses were accidentally poisoned after eating feed treated for weevils.
Raphel said she found the first ailing horse after she arrived home from practice with the Texas Ladies Aside, an equestrian drill team.
With temperatures hovering just below 100 degrees, Raphel said she and husband Bradley Raphel - co-owners since 1998 - assumed the horse was suffering from heat exhaustion and began trying to cool the animal down. But their efforts didn't work, she said, and neither did efforts made by veterinarians who had come to help.
"After a while, after you've worked on them after one or two die, it starts dawning on you it's not heat exhaustion. There's too many sick," Raphel said Monday afternoon, her voice weak and sorrowful.
Raphel said about two-thirds of the affected horses belonged to her and her husband. The remaining animals were being boarded at the facility, she said.
"We lost our main stallion and we lost some of our babies. We lost some of our top mares and, of course, our borders' horses are important too," Raphel said. "It's a tragedy. It's just hard to believe something like that could happen."
Panic seemed to seep through the Brazos Valley agricultural community as news of the mass casualties spread through Bryan and College Station. But A&M officials tried to allay residents' worries.
Texas A&M's College of Veterinary Medicine Dean H. Richard Adams has not seen or treated the affected horses, but said based on historical data he thought it unlikely that such an incident would be caused by a virus or disease. It would take more than a few hours for a disease - which has incubation and infectious stages- to spread from horse to horse, he said.
"This event itself is an extraordinarily uncommon event. It suggests that something in that environment proved to be highly toxic to those animals," Adams said. "But as to what it is and to the source it's going to take some diagnostic testing before those questions can be answered."
Adams said it likely would take several days before results were returned. The Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Lab collected samples of feed and bedding at the stable and will run tests for unusual compounds. Necropsies are being performed on the dead horses, he said.
Meanwhile, doctors at the vet clinic were focusing on the five horses in their care, working to keep them medically stable and preparing to treat any symptoms that might occur.
The A&M vet clinic collaborates with the College Station-based diagnostic lab, which is a part of the A&M System, but the two are independent entities, Adams said.
Representatives with the Brazos County Health Department said they were unaware of the horse casualties and not involved in the investigation.
Late Monday, Raphel recalled how frightened she was as she sat with the dying horses. It seemed to take forever for help to arrive, she said. But slowly dozens of people -community members, veterinarians and even volunteer firefighters - began to arrive, and Raphel felt a sense of appreciation flood over her, she said.
Many of those horse-lovers remained at the stable throughout the night as they kept watch over the dozens of remaining horses.
Sandra Smith, a College Station chiropractor, was one of the devoted. She arrived at about 6 p.m. and spent about eight hours vigilantly watching over both her horse, a Peruvian Paso, and others. The horses seemed to be stricken at random with the illness, she said, explaining that owners with two horses might have one that was sick and one that seemed fine.
"It was just heartbreaking to see the animals," added Smith, whose horse, Orion, has not yet shown any symptoms. "Everybody just really, really worked like Trojans. Everybody that was out there just gave their whole heart and soul to try and make the difference and just couldn't."
All the remaining horses were given new hay and feed as a precautionary measure, Smith said, adding that anything that might have been contaminated was removed.
On Monday afternoon, Smith expressed sympathy for the Raphels, who often work with young children and the disabled at their equine center. She wept as she recalled friends' horses that also were boarded at the stable but hadn't been as lucky as 11-year-old Orion, whom she bought from the Raphels last August.
"I had learned to love them even though they didn't belong directly to me," Smith said. "You learn to love them all."
- Holly Huffman's e-mail address is holly.huffman@theeagle.com.