Consumers Warned About Possible Saddle Pad Anthrax Contamination

Consumers Warned About Possible Saddle Pad Anthrax Contamination NEWS from CPSC U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Office of Information and Public Affairs Washington, DC 20207 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 1, 1974 Release # 74-073 Consumers Warned About Possible Saddle Pad Anthrax Contamination WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 1) -- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in cooperation with the Perforated Pad Company today warned consumers, particularly horse owners, that 5,000 to 10,000 "Alaskan Hair Saddle Pads" sold nationwide since January could be contaminated with anthrax spores. The saddle pads, which utilized imported animal hair, retailed for between $7 and $9. The pads were manufactured by the Perforated Pad Company, Woonsocket, Rhode Island. The saddle pads are about three-quarters to one-inch thick with cotton duck quilt on one side and exposed short coarse greyish-black colored animal hair on the other side. They range in sizes from about 26 by 28 inches to 30 by 30 inches. The pads may bear a three-by-five inch blue label on the quilted side that includes the name of the manufacturer and one of six style numbers: 238, 238R, 500, 500R, 832 and 832R. Consumers who own one of these saddle pads should place the product in a sealed double plastic bag and call a local or state health department for disposal instructions. Consumers should not attempt to sterilize the pad, incinerate it, or throw it away because of the risk of further contamination. Perforated Pad Co. has voluntarily agreed to refund the price of the pads to all purchasers. Consumers who bought one of these pads should contact the retailer from whom it was purchased to arrange for a refund. The Commission was alerted to the possibility of anthrax contamination by the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services following the death of a horse in the state and the subsequent deaths of numerous animals on a private game ranch who were fed the infected horse meat. Anthrax is an