The organisations said testing and gathering information continued, and was now focusing on identifying any further distribution of the indospicine contaminated pet meat, and on gathering lessons from this rare event.
PrimeSafe and Agriculture Victoria said they were aware of a consignment of horses that came to Victoria to be processed for pet meat from the Northern Territory where the Indigofera plant that contains indospicine is known to grow.
“If unsure, owners are advised to contact their pet meat supplier to check where and when their pet meat was sourced. Some products will be labelled as Maffra District Knackery and Backman’s Greyhound Supplies. After initial distribution, the pet meat could have been processed into a variety of products making identification of all affected pet foods difficult.”
“Given the difficulties identifying indospicine in pet meat, dog owners are reminded that they should not feed their pet any fresh or frozen raw pet meat sourced from Maffra District Knackery between 31 May and 3 July. All kinds of pet meat fitting that description should be considered at risk of indospicine contamination, due to the blending of pet meats, including products described as beef and kangaroo pet meat,” the statement advised.
Indospicine toxicity had not previously been reported in Victoria but has been reported in northern Australia when dogs eating horse or camel meat were affected. In Victoria, horses may be transported to a PrimeSafe licensed knackery where they may be processed for use as pet food in accordance with the Australian Standard for the Hygienic Production of Pet Meat.
Key points:
Authorities are not naming the location but have visited the property and interviewed its manager — who is said to be shocked by what has happened.
It is understood the property sold a truckload of about 25 horses, but they were not intended to go to Victoria.
“I have been on the property and discussed the situation with the manager and he was completely unaware that the [final] destination of the horses was Victoria for manufactured pet food,” Peter Saville, the NTs principal veterinary officer, said.
“The managers understanding was the horses would go to a meatworks in Queensland for human consumption and our investigation has suggested the horses were re-directed [to Victoria] due to COVID lockdowns.”
Dr Saville said samples had been collected from another 80 horses on the property, which will be tested for levels of the toxin indospicine.
When asked if the toxic horse meat would have been harmful to humans, Dr Saville said “not necessarily”.
“Humans are far more tolerant to low-levels of indospicine than dogs and the amount of meat in a human diet is much lower than a dog diet … given dogs are repeatedly fed the same diet almost every day.”
What does horse meat taste like?
Horse is a versatile meat that lends itself to a variety of preparations. It has more protein, and less fat than lean beef. It tastes somewhat like a mix between beef and venison. It can be a bit sweeter than other red meats, yet still possesses a dense meat flavor with a hint of gaminess.
You Have Been Eating Horse Meat Without Knowing It
Victorian authorities are investigating whether contaminated horse meat, which was sold to pet owners as beef, was responsible for the deaths of 22 dogs and the hospitalisation of a further 44.
In a joint statement released late on Friday afternoon, the regulator, PrimeSafe, and Agriculture Victoria said tests had confirmed pet meat sourced from Maffra District Knackery contained a toxin in native plants called indospicine.
It’s believed the toxin was ingested by horses in the Northern Territory before they were transported to the Gippsland knackery and butchered for pet meat.
“Horse meat is emerging as the focus of the investigation into the indospicine toxin found in pet meat products,” the statement said.
Authorities have urged dog owners to steer clear of all pet meat sourced from Maffra District Knackery between May 31 and July 3.
“All kinds of pet meat fitting that description should be considered at risk of indospicine contamination, due to the blending of pet meats, including products described as beef and kangaroo pet meat.”
The knackery issued a voluntary recall of the meat earlier this month, nine days after a request from PrimeSafe. Maffra District Knackery also trades as Backmans Meats and Backmans Greyhound Supplies, and its raw meat is sold in pet shops across Victoria.
Authorities said the contaminated meat might still be in circulation. They warned that the meat might have been processed into a variety of products following distribution, “making identification of all affected pet foods difficult”.Advertisement
Andrew Lawrence, whose German shepherd became seriously ill after eating meat from the knackery, said he would never have purchased the pet food if he had known it contained horse meat.
“We were paying for premium beef,” he said. “We thought we were getting chunks of beef, you don’t expect chunks of horse meat mixed up in it.”
The Gippsland resident, who lives in Glengarry West, has spent $5000 on veterinary fees for his dog, Maggie, who was diagnosed with acute liver disease after eating the meat.
She was hospitalised for five days after she stopped eating, became jaundiced, lethargic and excessively thirsty. It’s likely she will require long-term medication.
“There is a chance that this has done permanent damage and she will never recover,” Mr Lawrence said. “We are hoping that’s not the case.”
In a statement posted on Facebook, Maffra District Knackery co-owner Karen Backman said she was devastated to hear that the toxin had been found in her pet meat.
“We are still totally shocked that toxins in animals we were told were originally bred for human consumption could harm dogs,” she said. “This has never happened before as far as we are aware. It has totally taken us by surprise. We had never even heard of the interstate toxin before.”
She said the knackery purchased station-bred horses from northern Victoria and recently discovered these animals might have originated from interstate and contained the toxin.
She said the knackery had now implemented a “Victorian animals only” requirement, and changed its manufacturing processes.
“Our pet foods are safe,” she said. “Our hearts go out to all those families and pets that suffered from the effects of the interstate toxin. This is the worst thing that could have happened – and we could not have been prepared –its just awful – it’s never happened before, we are making sure it will never happen again.”
The toxin can build up in animals as they graze and is then passed onto dogs when they eat their meat. Dogs are particularly sensitive to the toxin.
There have been no previous reports of indospicine toxicity in Victoria but it has been detected in northern Australia, where dogs have died after eating contaminated camel meat.
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