Twenty-five people, mainly children, were taken to hospital after eating food believed to be dog meat in an Eastern Cape village on Monday, the provincial health department said.
The group, aged between eight and 20, were initially admitted to a clinic in Mhuku village near Idutywa, departmental spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said.
However, the clinic did not have the capacity to treat the serious cases and 21 of them were transferred to Butterworth hospital.
He said doctors at Butterworth hospital diagnosed the children as suffering from dehydration. They are now in a stable condition after having diarrhoea and vomiting. Some of them had also complained of stomach cramps.
Kupelo said the parents of a 17-year-old boy had told him to kill a dog that was attacking and killing their sheep.
”The boy killed the dog and instead of getting rid of it, he cooked it and went around the village inviting his peers to have lunch,” he said.
He told the group the meat was from a sheep killed by a snake.
The boy told the group after eating the meat they had eaten dog.
Ulubabalo Vinqishe (17), who ate some of the meat, confirmed the boy had told them they were eating sheep.
”I am not feeling well. My stomach is very sore,” he said.
Asked if he would remain friends with the boy, he said: ”No, not after this.”
Kupelo said it is up to the boy’s parents, or the children and their parents, to report the matter to the police.
Police said the matter had not been reported by Monday afternoon. — Sapa