Dead cows drank toxic water: tests

The Canadian Press
Jennifer Graham

REGINA–Tests have concluded about 200 cattle found dead in a pasture in southwestern Saskatchewan drank toxic water.
Dr. Betty Althouse, the province’s chief veterinary officer, said water samples from the pasture’s dugout had a sulphate concentration of more than 24,000 milligrams per litre.
Sulphate concentrations over 1,000 mg per litre can cause neurological trauma in cattle, and can kill at levels over 7,000 mg.
Dissolved solids, including salts, in the water also were extremely high at 33,400 mg per litre.
Information from the provincial government suggests water with dissolved solids greater than 7,000 mg should not be used for cattle at all.
Althouse didn’t provide details yesterday as to what other dissolved solids were in the water.
She said the cause seems to have been a lack of rain and evaporation due to hot weather.
“The evaporation plays a big role in that and it just concentrates what’s there,” Althouse noted.
The dead cows and calves were discovered last Friday on Crown land south of the community of Chaplin.
The pasture is operated by a grazing company and leased by 33 cattle owners.
At the time, much of southwestern Saskatchewan was under a heat warning as temperatures hovered around 30 C.
Althouse said there can be few signs for several days when animals drink that much salt in water.
“They may look fine for a few days and then there would be sudden deaths,” she remarked.
“It’s not like you’re going to see a few die one day and a few the next,” she added.
“It does tend to be a fairly sudden catastrophic event.”
RCMP and animal protective services are investigating.
An estimated 240 surviving cow-calf pairs were moved to a different pasture that has a safe and secure water source, although a handful have died since while others remain under veterinary care, Althouse said.