Noxious weed blamed in deaths of 19 wild horses in prison facility

Font ResizeLocal NewsAssociated PressAssociated PressPosted: 12/15/2012 10:49:18 AM MSTDecember 15, 2012 7:25 PM GMTUpdated: 12/15/2012 12:25:46 PM MST

CANON CITY — Federal officials say a noxious weed likely caused the deaths of 19 horses at the Canon City Wild Horse Inmate Program facility, where Colorado inmates train select mustangs.

Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman Lauren Gapinski says preliminary lab results indicate the ingestion of whorled milkweed, a highly toxic plant, is suspected to have caused the deaths. The weed was in the hay fed to the horses.

The Pueblo Chieftain reports the BLM began investigating after 11 horses died Dec. 3 and another eight died the following day. Some of the horses died on their own while others were euthanized.

Nine horses that showed illness have recovered or are recovering quickly.

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