Mystery Grows As More Livestock Dies In Maury County

Mystery Grows As More Livestock Dies In Maury County:

MAURY COUNTY, Tenn. — Horses are dying and now cattle as well and detectives in Maury County have been at a loss to explain how or why it is happening.

First, seven seemingly healthy horses turned up dead last week at a Hampshire farm in Maury County. The state performed a necropsy and released the results.

“They ruled that it’s undetermined. The cause of death cannot be determined at this time. It is a mystery. We don’t know what happened,” said Detective Terry Chandler with the Maury County Sheriff’s Department.

Now Detective Chandler is investigating more deaths: Two dead cows at a farm across from the one where the seven horses were found. And he’s consulting with police looking into more mysterious horse deaths in Dickson and Giles county.

Chandler said there is no evidence anyone is intentionally harming the animals.

He said they have not ruled out the possibility the livestock died from eating contaminated hay or a poison plant. It’s possible the toxins were not detected by the state testing.

[newschannel5.com/Nick Beres/23 Feb 2012]