The veterinary services at the Ministry of Agriculture carried out an immediate investigation following symptoms of severe pain, diarrhea and vomiting in 30 sport horses at a horse farm in Ra’anana that appeared suddenly and widely on the farm. Since it is a pesticide that was banned for use in Israel many years ago, it is suspected that it was intentional poisoning.
The beginning of the story in the morning, some time after breakfast, 30 horses out of 49 horses on the farm, one by one, began to gallop and poop. The owners of the farm called doctors and veterinarians to the scene. Four horses were evacuated to the veterinary hospital, where they fought for their lives. The diagnosis of the clinical signs revealed that it was a severe intestinal obstruction, which resulted from the paralysis of the intestinal function.
One of the horses/Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
Immediately upon receiving the report from the equine doctor of the Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Tzvia Mildenberg, the Ministry of Agriculture began an epidemiological investigation of the incident. The investigation included laboratory samples from the food found in the tank and cart, samples from feces, gastric fluid, sawdust, the harvest, and water. At the same time as the tests, the department verified to the supervision of animal feed because on the other farms that received feed from the same batch, the horses are healthy. Indeed, the disease appeared only on the aforementioned farm. All the horses on all the other farms were found to be healthy. The diagnosis in the toxicology laboratory at the veterinary institute indicated poisoning by Aldicrab (“Tamic”), which was A pesticide that has been banned for use in Israel since 2012. At the same time as the investigation and tests, the doctors of the veterinary services continue to accompany the owners of the farm, and guide them about the ways of treating the horses. The horses continue to receive medical treatment on the spot. There are 49 horses on the farm, and it is used as a boarding house for sport horses as well as for therapeutic riding lessons for children.
Dr. Tzvia Mildenberg, equine doctor in the veterinary services at the Ministry of Agriculture: “This is an extremely unusual and very serious case, so the employees of the veterinary services at the Ministry of Agriculture mobilized, and together we carried out a quick investigation, which also included a quick laboratory diagnosis, so that within a few hours a diagnosis was already received for the cause of the illness , and a preliminary understanding was formed to confirm what had happened a day before. In light of the fact that this is a substance that has not been used in Israel for over a decade, and since there is no reason for the invention of the substance on the farm, it is suspected that it was a deliberate poisoning. The case will continue to be investigated by the Israel Police, at the same time as the ministry’s investigation.”
