Pet owners will be compensated for animals that died from eating contaminated pet food, Royal Canin pet-food manufacturers said on Thursday.
This follows the deaths of 30 animals to date after a batch of the company’s pet food was found to be contaminated with a substance called melamine.
”Results of the tests have confirmed that Vets Choice and Royal Canin dog and cat dry pet food products contained corn gluten contaminated with melamine,” a company statement on Thursday said.
”First, we are sharing their distress. We are pet lovers; we are a responsible company. We will take action,” said Royal Canin MD Gregory Watine.
He said the company will take full responsibility if pets are found to have died after consuming the contaminated food.
It is still under investigation whether pet owners whose animals fell ill but did not die will be compensated for their veterinary costs. Each case will be considered individually and the company will work with the vet treating the animal, Watine said.
The extent of the outbreak is unknown as the situation is ”evolving”.
Royal Canin recalled its Vet’s Choice and Royal Canin dry dog and cat food after investigating reports that pets were falling ill. Symptoms of poisoning included diarrhoea, vomiting and excessive drinking of water, and most of the animals were diagnosed with renal failure.
The products subject to the current recall were manufactured by Royal Canin South Africa in its Johannesburg plant between March 8 and April 11 this year, and were sold exclusively in South Africa and Namibia.
”All other Vets Choice and Royal Canin products (including products made in South Africa before March 8 2007 and products made outside South Africa) are not affected and can be safely fed to the pets,” the company said.
Outbreak
A similar outbreak in the Cape and in the United States recently found melamine traces in the wheat gluten used in cat and dog food. An independent pathologist, Professor Fred Reyers, said he thinks there is sufficient evidence to suggest a link between this outbreak and those in the Cape and the US. He described melamine as ”a totally new toxin” and said very little is known about it.
”As yet we don’t know if it is in human food as well,” he said.
The pet-food industry was ”taken by surprise” by the outbreak, said chairperson of the Petfood Institute Barry Hundley. ”We need to act worldwide in terms of correcting the situation.”
The financial consequences of the outbreak for Royal Canin have not yet been determined.
”The contaminated corn gluten was delivered to Royal Canin by a South African third-party supplier and appears to have originated from China,” the Royal Canin statement said.
Hundley said the local pet-food market has been warned to look for melamine in products and to check on everything coming from China. Vets will also be updated on the situation.
Meanwhile, Tshwane Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals inspector Marizda Kruger questioned the severity of the situation. ”This has had too much media hype; there are very few animals that have actually died,” she said.