In the spring of 2016, the Standardbred Canada website ran a story in regard to the disproportionately high amount of dysphagia cases that were diagnosed at Jeff Gural’s Allerage Farms location in Pennsylvania. Now it appears that Gural is closer to getting some answers.
According to an article by Press Connects, a two-year study into the matter that was conducted by a team at Cornell University is expected to be completed in early 2018.
In 2016, Gural’s lawyers appealed to the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board. They pressed the organization to force state regulators to conduct a more thorough investigation of the water at Gural’s Allerage Farm. The move came after multiple foals at the PA farm were born with dysphagia, which is a life-threatening ailment which stops the foals from being able to swallow properly.
As the Press Connects piece explains, both Gural and scientist alike suspected that a nearby natural gas well was a factor in the situation. The Cornell University probe is expected to deliver some solid answers. The article states that the presence of additional dysphagia cases on the farm appeared to cease after the natural gas well was shut down.
“Everybody wants to see, is fracking the problem?” Press Connects has quoted Gural as saying. “The only thing we know for sure is that it’s very abnormal for that (dysphagia) to happen. If it happened once or twice, but for every horse to have that … it’s something environmental.”
(With files from Press Connects)