In September 2015, Western Milling located in Goshen, California, produced horse feed that was adulterated with Monensin, a livestock drug that when fed to horses is known to be fatal. The contaminated feed killed 21 horses at Black Fence Farms in Clovis, California. Another 28 fell ill.
Horse eating from feed pan
Western Milling will pay $2.4 million to settle a lawsuit for selling tainted feed that killed or severely injured 49 horses in Clovis, California.
© 2017 by Sari ONeal
In 2016 the same facility improperly mixed the same livestock drug into medicated cattle feed, which contributed to the deaths of several dairy calves.
On October 29, 2018, it was announced that Western Milling will pay $2.4 million to settle the Fresno Superior Court lawsuit for selling the tainted feed that killed or severely injured 49 horses at a horse ranch in Clovis, California. The lawsuit said that federal regulators previously had found that company feed samples contained "impermissibly high" levels of monensin, an antibiotic used to kill parasites and promote weight gain. It's used in cattle and poultry feed but is highly toxic to horses.
Per the settlement agreement, Western Milling has discontinued the manufacturing of horse and specialty feeds for species such as rabbits at the Goshen facility. The firm will implement extensive process improvements and acquire new state-of-the-art equipment for precision mixing and improved documentation, product identification, and traceability in the handling of medicated feeds.