Two coastal counties, Brunswick and Horry, in North Carolina are experiencing one horse death after another and botulism is being blamed.

WECT 6 in Wilmington, NC is reporting that tainted food is suspected.   WECT says:

John Vogt is relieved and surprised his 22 year old horse, Buckshot, is still alive.  Another of his horses was sick like Buckshot and died.

Both horses lived a farm in Shallotte.

When Buckshot got sick, he was rushed to N.C. State's Vet Hospital, and treated for botulism..

An autopsy performed on the dead horse in inconclusive, but the pathologist said it is likely it died from botulism.

When Vogt's horses got sick, he started looking for a common denominator, and all signs pointed to the food.

"They were fed last in the feed group. They were fed out of a separate bag," said Vogt.

That food was Country Acres Horse feed by Purina.

The complete WECT story can be found here.