A Florida animal feed manufacturer has stopped producing equine products following a recall prompted by the deaths of three horses in Davie, Florida. Now, some horse owners who believe that their animals were affected by the recalled feed are seeking restitution.

Jonathan Lang, general manager of Lakeland Animal Nutrition, Inc. (a subsidiary of Allech), said three horses at the Masterpiece Equestrian Center died in October after ingesting feed manufactured at the firm's Lakeland, Florida, facility. Further investigation revealed that the horse feed was contained monensin, an ionophore antibiotic used to improve weight gain and control coccidiosis (a protozoan infection) in ruminants, swine, and poultry that is toxic to horses.

On Oct. 22, Lakeland voluntarily recalled three of its Signature Status Pellet products and its LAN 10 Pellet products manufactured between Sept. 8 and Oct. 8. Lang said the feed connected to the deaths seemed to have been confined to products distributed in Florida. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration published a notice regarding the voluntary feed recall on its website on Dec. 3.

“There have been no further confirmed reports of any feed issues outside of Masterpiece Equestrian, and we believe the issue was isolated to feed that was distributed to that facility,” Lang said