Three brands of dog food have been taken off the market after being suspected of causing the deaths of around seventy dogs. Buddies Complete Dog Food, Legends Dog Food and Hi-Pro Dog Food are no longer allowed to be sold in South Africa.
According to the Dept. of Agriculture, these products cannot be marketed, distributed or sold in South Africa.
The Dept. of Agriculture inspected the sites where the dog food was manufactured, and the three brands were pulled from shelves in April, pending the results of testing by pathologists at the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute.
The products tested positive for aflatoxins, which establishes the link between the products and the dogs that died of aflatoxicosis.
Members of the public have been asked to telephone the department on 012-319-6887 if they see any of these products still on shop shelves.
Meanwhile, Steve Galane, acting chief director of communications at the Dept. of Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries, warned pet owners to look out for pet food that was mouldy or smelled “off”. Affected animals may show symptoms from listlessness and loss of appetite to abdominal pain and/or vomiting.
2 Comments
My three healthy dogs were fed hipro for many years. I lost 3 of them within two weeks. I purchased hipro from Fruit Stop in Silverton on 2 April 2011& they only became sick after I changing their food on 13th May 2011. We phoned Fruit Stop and they said that the food purchased in March was a problem. My first dog began vomiting and the next day, he was all wobbly and he refused to eat but only drank water. Later that afternoon,he became sicker & died. I then took my other 2 dogs to the vet for a checkup. The vet said that the one had fever and gave her injections and medication. The other was reported to be fine. The following day,the one became sick with vomiting,excess water intake but no eating and died later that afternoon. My last dog was fine until two days ago. Same symptoms, vomiting, excess water drinking, no food intake. The vomit was a white flemmy look which turned black in a couple of hours. I loved my dogs dearly. I paid R4000 plus with the visits to the vets and I feel that the company which manufactured hipro should compensate me for the expenses incurred as well as putting my babies through so much pain and me having to lose them in such a short space of time. I am so torn inside with my loss.
I’m so sorry you lost three dogs this way, Bev. Sadly, you are one amongst many whose dogs have died allegedly as a result of being fed Hi-Pro dog food. If you go to http://www.hellopeter.com and type Hi-Pro into the “Quick search” box, you’ll see quite a few reports, but the company appears to be one on a long list of those that don’t bother to respond to customer complaints.