Dog food pulled from shelves after pets fall ill
An Australian pet food brand has pulled one of its products from shelves after multiple reports of dogs falling ill after eating it.
A Perth pet owner said her two golden retrievers became unwell after eating Black Hawk Pet Care brand Grain Free Salmon.
The woman told WA Today her two dogs had previously eaten the salmon product without complaint, but days into the new bag the pair presented worrying signs.
“Probably for about two days on the food, they both had really bad diarrhoea, and then blood,” said the woman identified only as ‘Rach’.
“So we took them to the vet because obviously blood in the poo is never a good sign. I told the vet what happened and I said, ‘something’s telling me it was the food they’re on’, as it’s the only thing that had changed for them.
“The vet said it would be best for me to put them on boiled chicken and rice for a while, and whenever it started to clear up, start reintroducing the food.”
Rach followed the vet’s advice but said the same worrying symptoms reappeared almost immediately after reintroducing the Black Hawk Grain Free Salmon back into the dogs’ diet.
The company reportedly received similar reports about other dogs falling ill after eating its salmon product.
Sean Duggan, chief executive officer of Masterpet, the parent company of Black Hawk, confirmed the brand has ceased production of the Grain Free Salmon product, and quarantined all remaining stock while it investigated.
“We have recently become aware of small number of dogs suffering symptoms of an upset tummy. We take these reports very seriously,” he said in a statement.
He said the company recently broadened its network of suppliers of salmon meal, and the additional supplier had been through “extensive testing” and passed its high quality standards.
“We have completed extensive testing of the product to ensure that it poses no harm. All tests to date have come back well within normal ranges.
“We are continuing to test to ensure we can identify the issue as soon as possible.”
The company noted the broader Black Hawk range was not impacted by the testing and that the reports of ill dogs were only associated with its Grain Free Salmon product.
