Polo Horse Deaths May Have Been Intentional

The investigation into 21 dead polo horses could soon turn into a criminal case. Veterinarians in Kissimmee are helping to figure out if the horses were poisoned near a polo club in Wellington.

State investigators have not ruled out the possibility that these horses were intentionally killed. At a lab in Kissimmee, they're checking everything to make sure no other animals get sick.

Ashley Pogue has been around horses most of her life. She runs her family's stables in St. Cloud where she's waiting for word.

"For all of them to go out like that, it had to have been something that they possibly ate or been exposed to for that many to have died. It was really upsetting," Pogue told Eyewitness News.

Ashley and horse owners everywhere want to know what killed 21 polo ponies before a match at the U.S. Open Polo Tournament in Palm Beach County.

"Our Department of Agriculture law enforcement office has begun an investigation," explained Mark Fagan, Department of Agriculture.

Veterinary pathologists have conducted tests on the remains of 11 of the animals so far, some of them at the state lab in Kissimmee. The results appear to rule out an infectious or contagious disease. The food the animals ate is also being tested and that could concern every horse owner.

"Know where your food is coming from. We're not saying it's food at all," Fagan said.

But it's the unknown that worries Ashley Pogue. Her horse is part of the family.

"I'm definitely wanting to know what it was, because I want to make sure that my horses, if it is the feed, I want to make sure they don't get that feed. I want to know, because I don't want my horses to be exposed to it."

All of the horses that died were from a polo team from Venezuela. No animals outside of that team got sick. That's part of the reason why some wonder if this was intentional, but investigators are certain they will get to the bottom of this.