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Death of Horses Indicates Poisoning

It remains unclear how the horses may have ingested the poison.

State Veterinarian, Don Hoenig, was recently called to a Searsport farm to investigate the deaths of seven horses. After ordering laboratory tests of the manure from the dead horses, Hoenig detected the presence of an anti-bacterial substance—monensin--in the manure. Monensin is deadly when ingested by horses, leading to the conclusion that the horses died of poisoning. It remains unclear how the horses may have ingested the anti-bacterial. The substance was not detected in the cattles’ feed.