Deadly Toxic Beetles Kill 14 Horses on Mauston Horse Ranch

In Mauston, Wisconsin, Cindy Kanarowski-Peterson along with her husband, Lyle, thought they were well prepared for winter. After devastating rains left much of their 252 acres of hay fields underwater, the Petersons purchased six semi-tractor trailers full of hay and alfalfa to provide for their horses through the winter. The hay was sourced from farms in South Dakota and Wyoming.

But everything was not as it seemed. 14 of their beloved horses are now dead. A blister beetle is being cited as the source for a deadly toxin that coats the hay. Blister beetles are poisonous to horses and create a deadly toxin when they are crushed during the hay harvesting process.

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