Horse Death Toll Rises as Officials Recall Hay

State officials Thursday ordered a recall of up to 1,000 tons of hay cubes that may be tainted by a deadly toxin as the death toll of horses continued to grow.

One more horse was destroyed at the Orange County Fairgrounds Equestrian Center late Wednesday, bringing the total to 16.

Botulism has been blamed in the horses’ deaths in four Southern California counties, and veterinarians believe the powerful toxin was hidden in hay cubes manufactured in Utah and shipped to at least 60 stables in the Southland, officials said. Only a portion of the compressed hay cakes tested have been found to contain botulism.

But as a precaution, a regionwide roundup has been ordered of the candy-bar sized cubes distributed by Paramount Cubing of Paramount, said Stanley Buscombe, head of the feed and fertilizer branch of the state Department of Food and Agriculture.

The tainted hay cubes have not yet surfaced in San Diego County, according to San Diego County Veterinarian Hubert Johnstone. “We haven’t had any unusual reports of horse mortality,” Johnstone said. “And I think we would have heard” if horses had died, Johnstone said.

Horse owners are probably “not feeding their horses hay until they know for sure” if their feed supply was safe, Johnstone said.

It is highly unlikely that the tainted product had been shipped as far south as San Diego County, according to feed store owners and operators in North County.

“I know of no large equestrian centers that even use cubes,” said Paul McFadden, president of Escondido-based McFadden Feed Co. “And I don’t know of any feed stores that even sell cubes.”

Most of San Diego’s hay comes direct from the Imperial Valley, feed store owners said. “All this is going to do is hurt some (Imperial Valley farmers) whose reputations don’t deserve to be hurt,” said another feed store owner.

Buscombe said no complaints have been filed against Paramount Cubing, adding that the company has voluntarily suspended all shipments of hay cubes and is cooperating with the recall.