Contaminated meat blamed for animal sanctuary deaths in Nevada

Horse meat contaminated with barbiturates was blamed for killing a wolf and tiger and sickened a cheetah at a wildlife sanctuary here last month.

635617222579176670-527AnimalArk11Triple A Brand Meat Co., based in Burlington, Colo., recalled the horse meat that was sold to 10 different zoos and wildlife sanctuaries nationwide, including Animal Ark in Reno, company partner Lindy Yager said Thursday.

Toxicology reports confirmed that the meat contained pentobarbital and phenytoin. Both drugs are considered barbiturates, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Pentobarbital is a drug used to euthanize animals, while phenytoin is an anti-convulsing drug used to treat seizures.

Triple A Brand Meat, which is certified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, sells horse meat and beef, among other food products, to about 200 customers nationwide, Yager said.

“The horse meat was contaminated, so we stopped the production until we figure out how that got in there,” Yager said. “What they found in there was stuff used to euthanize horses.”

This entry was posted in Wacky and Weird and tagged , , by Douglas Powell. Bookmark the permalink.

About Douglas Powell

A former professor of food safety and the publisher of barfblog.com, Powell is passionate about food, has five daughters, and is an OK goaltender in pickup hockey. Download Doug’s CV here. Dr. Douglas Powell editor, barfblog.com retired professor, food safety 3/289 Annerley Rd Annerley, Queensland 4103 dpowell29@gmail.com 61478222221 I am based in Brisbane, Australia, 15 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time