Bad dog food in Taiwan

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2009:

 

 

Bad dog food in Taiwan

 

TAIPEI--Moldy corn imported from Pakistan and made into dog

food killed more than 1,000 dogs at animal shelters in four Taiwan

counties, the Taiwan Council of Agriculture disclosed on January 5,

2009.

The lethal ingredient was aflatoxin, a form of naturally

occurring mycotoxin, produced by fungi that grow on grain.

Aflatoxin is usually neutralized by cooking at high temperatures, a

normal part of pet food manufacturing, but since 2005 aflatoxin

incidents have also killed 17 dogs in New York state, 23 in Israel,

more than 600 in Venezuela, and an unknown number in China, where

the Shanghai Yidi Pet Company halted distribution of a contaminated

dog food line in early January 2009. Company spokespersons agreed

that the contaminated food was imported, but disagreed as to whether

the source was Taiwan or Australia.

The Taiwanese maker, Ji-Tai Forage, recalled and composted

29 metric tons of " Peter's Kind-Hearted Dog Food, " produced only for

shelter consumption. About 20 metric tons appeared to have been

eaten by dogs without incident, and 1,450 metric tons of pig feed

made from the moldy corn contained no aflatoxin, according to spot

checks--but some dog food samples contained many times the known

lethal dose level.

Taiwanese public shelters were notorious in the 1990s for

refusing to kill impounded dogs, in keeping with Buddhist belief,

but allowing the dogs to starve instead. This was banned in 1998 as

part of a new national humane law, along with selling dogs to dog

meat restaurants, which was believed to the fate of up to a third of

all impounded dogs. The law banned selling dog meat altogether.

ANIMAL PEOPLE last received reports about Taiwanese shelters

violating these provisions of the 1998 law in 2002, but still

receives frequent complaints about overcrowding and lack of

veterinary care.

 

 

 

 

--

Merritt Clifton

Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE

P.O. Box 960

Clinton, WA 98236

 

Telephone: 360-579-2505

Fax: 360-579-2575

E-mail: anmlpepl

Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org

 

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