To the editor:
After reading the heartbreaking story about the two horses that died at Seaview Farm from a virus (the Times, Thursday, May 3), I had to write to try to stop rumors from being spread.
One horse (Aesop) died from coronovirus, another (Sammy) died from unrelated causes, intestinal impaction.
When disease was diagnosed by veterinarian, temperatures were taken twice daily on all 34 horses at the barn for over two weeks.
Vets were at Seaview Farms 24-7 for a week, monitoring all horses and treating those with fevers with banamine which successfully lowered temperatures.
All horse owners that board at Seaview Farm were immediately notified of the situation, as were other local horse owners.
Virus is not interspecies spread, i.e., a human can't get it from a horse.
The only other cases of coronovirus were reported in California. While there is no antibody for this virus, doctors are working on the Seaview Farms case to hopefully find the cause of this virus.
Ken Lane, several vets and all those who work at Seaview Farm took every precaution to care for the horses before and during the quarantine and will continue to do so and work with professionals to try and find a treatment for this virus. I've been riding at Seaview Farm for over a year and have observed only the best love and care being given to all the animals there.
And my heart goes out to Wendy Prendergast. I loved Aesop, too.
June Hayes
Rockport
