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The Los Angeles KABC local TV evening news on Friday, August 1, 2014, had
the above news feature showing horses with very painful open sores, blisters, and swelling
of mouths and joints. The owners are naturally deeply concerned about their loved animals.
The KABC news story spotlights a serious problem that has simultaneously
arisen in various locations in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, and Ventura counties.
The horse owners suspect that the source of the problem may be tainted hay.
Citing a story from the Victor Valley News Group: Phelan horse
owner, Kendall Melline purchased the hay on July 24th. Her award-winning, $120,000 mare
is now, one of the many horses who have fallen ill due to eating this alfalfa hay.
"She has severe chemical looking burns, she is swollen, has pus, lesions and is lethargic,"
said Melline. According to Melline a horse in the Phelan area has already died after
eating the tainted hay, and exhibiting symptoms similar to the others affected.
A laboratory at U.C. Davis has been running toxicology tests
on the feed. So far the tests have not found anything unusual and a serious mystery
is forming.
It is currently too early to point fingers, but we naturally do have
our suspicion. The suspected hay that the horse owners acquired came from several
different retailers. The Community Alliance Blotter, in contacting
one of them, Diamond B Hay & Feed, was informed that their source of hay came from
Newberry Springs.
This naturally raises the question if the possible hay contamination
has anything to do with the Hinkley compost that we have previously written about.
The stuff is so scary that most landfills refuse to accept it; but it is considered
safe enough to spread on farm fields so that contaminates can be allegedly absorbed into
alfalfa and other crops. Hay for dairies, so that contaminates can reach infants'
milk.
One Newberry Springs farmer recently stated that using the
compost is safe because once spread upon the ground, any contaminates are absorbed
by the ground or crops. That doesn't sound good for either ground water
or the eating of crops.
The farmers don't seem to be too concerned over liability
as many have their businesses under Limited Liability corporations. Some may
even have each of their fields under a different LLC. This sense of protection
unfortunately can lead to riskier business practices based upon greed.
The liability protection of a LLC can be pierced if a
ruler-of-fact (judge) finds that a business person intentionally acted in a dangerous
and reckless manner knowing, or should have known, that an action could represent
a real potential hazard.
Alfalfa drying in Newberry Springs without a barn covering is subject to monsoon
weather; such as the heavy storm that struck Newberry Springs on July 9, 2014.
Note compost stacked to the left of the alfalfa in this photograph taken on June 13, 2014.
Click on photograph for enlargement.
Other factors leading to hay contamination can be as simple
as hay being bundled while still containing too much moisture. So this current
hay contamination may have nothing to do with any of the
hundreds of toxic elements
that have been found in treated urban sludge; like that processed by the Hinkley
compost facility.
A problem with the current U.C. Davis toxicology tests are
that the testing may be for different screenings. The number of toxins are
extensive.
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