Family dog killed by toxic mould in food recycling bin.
K-Nine news, 16th February 2017, by Victoria Heywood.
Many of us will be familiar with the plastic food caddy, an environmentally-friendly method of separating out food waste for recycling by local councils. Unfortunately, a stark warning is now being issued to dog owners after a pet died from licking the toxic mould that had grown inside his family’s caddy.
Sarah Dent’s dog Dexter had to be rushed to the vet’s when he was found fitting, having consumed bread mould from the caddy which had blown over in high winds. Mrs Dent left Dexter at Wheelhouse Veterinary Centre in Chesham for care, only to return home and find her other dog, George, in the same bleak state. Both dogs were placed into induced comas to help them cope with substantial toxic shock.
While George’s condition quickly improved, Dexter’s sadly deteriorated. He went into multiple organ failure and developed a blood clot in his spleen, and the decision was taken to put him to sleep.
Dexter’s family are absolutely heartbroken, and they hope that by raising awareness of what happened to their dogs, they can prevent animals or children from being poisoned in the future.
Mrs Dent was quoted on Wheelhouse Veterinary Centre’s Facebook page as saying, ”I have many regrets because I love my dogs dearly and have spent their lives trying to keep them safe from things. I only wish I’d known the danger of mould in bread, and the residue it leaves behind. I would have never left this caddy in the back garden, even out of reach, had I realised just how poisonous this was to my animals. I will be reviewing my recycling procedures, lining my caddy and keeping it locked away.
“Please be aware of this if you have dogs, so that hopefully this doesn’t happen to anyone else”
A spokesperson for Wheelhouse Veterinary Centre advised on the same post, “There is a certain type of mould that is fatal, not all mould. This is the mould that comes from things such as bread, cheese, pasta, walnuts. Especially concentrated in a sealed environment such as a container. Mycotoxicosis is a term used to denote poisoning by food products contaminated by fungi (i.e., mouldy bread, cheese, English walnuts, or even a backyard compost). As well as being toxic to humans, fungi release various toxins, also called mycotoxins, that are toxic to cats and dogs.”