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As the authorities issued warnings to pet owners, 22 dogs have died and 44 dogs have been hospitalized.
Victorian authorities are scrambling to find out whether horse meat is sold as beef to pet owners, resulting in dozens of dog deaths and hospitalizations.
A joint investigation by PrimeSafe and Agriculture Victoria found that 22 dogs died and 44 people were hospitalized. The authorities revealed that pet meat from Maffra District Knackery contained indospicine, a toxin found in native plants.
In the eastern suburbs of Melbourne and other places in Victoria, such as Bairnsdale, Traralgon, Mornington Peninsula and other places, a group of dogs suffered from severe liver disease after eating contaminated meat.
Dog owners have been warned not to feed their pets fresh or frozen raw pet meat purchased from Gippsland between May 31 and July 3.
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Maffra District Knackery also operates Backmans Meats and Backmans Greyhound Supplies, and its raw meat is sold in pet shops in Victoria.
The authorities said that after PrimeSafe made a request nine days ago, the meat processing plant and its retailers have begun voluntarily withdrawing a series of pet meat products at the beginning of this month.
“Nevertheless, products containing this toxin may still be in circulation, and meat from Gippsland processors may have been further processed into various products, which makes it difficult to identify all affected pet foods,” PrimeSafe and Agriculture Victoria The state said in a joint statement. “Dog owners should contact their pet food suppliers for advice on the source and content of purchased feed.”
The authorities added that it has been previously proven that when certain herding animals continue to eat these plants, their tissues accumulate indole octanoic acid toxin, and dogs are particularly sensitive to this toxin.
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Indospicine toxicity has not been reported in Victoria before, but it has been found in northern Australia when dogs eating horse or camel meat are affected.
The statement said: “The investigation is still very complex, and many investigations and tests are underway in laboratories across Australia.”
“The current focus is on pet meat from a series of animals, and continue to trace their origins. At this stage, the investigation has no conclusive evidence to prove how these dogs had indomethacin toxin.”
Authorities recommend that if their pets show any signs of concern, including sudden loss of appetite, lethargy, or jaundice in a previously healthy animal, dog owners should always seek advice from the veterinarian in a timely manner.
Andrew Lawrence, his German Shepherd became seriously ill after eating small pieces of meat. He spent $5,000 in veterinary expenses for his dog Maggie.
He says age If he knew it contained horse meat, he would never buy pet food.
His dog was diagnosed with acute liver disease and may require long-term medication.
“This may cause permanent damage, and she will never recover,” he told the newspaper. “We hope this is not the case.”
Karen Backman, co-owner of Maffra District Knackery, said in a Facebook post that they were “shocked” by the discovery of a phytotoxin in their pet meat and “related to unprecedented dog diseases and deaths in Victoria “authorities”.
“We were told that the toxins in animals that were originally for human consumption could harm dogs, which still shocked us. As far as we know, this has never happened before. It completely surprised us. We even had it before. Never heard of interstate toxins,” she said.
“Although we welcome the findings of the animal health authorities that the Australian phytotoxin, indospicine, is the cause of the mysterious serious liver disease, we cannot comment on whether we agree with their final conclusion that the toxin is present in our meat and the toxin What? It hurts the dog. We are looking for scientific data linking our meat with toxins.”
The horses raised at the station were purchased from northern Victoria. Ms. Buckman said they knew that these horses might contain toxins because they crossed the Victorian border from the interstate highway.
“Since the discovery of the poison, we have implemented strict’Victoria animals only’ requirements on all ingredients, changed our manufacturing process, and believe that interstate toxins will never cross the Victorian border and contaminate our pet food again ,” she added.
The authorities said in a statement that so far, there is no indication that these cases pose any risks to human health or human food safety.
“There are strong food safety regulatory control measures to prevent pet meat from entering the human food supply,” it said.
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