said
Chen Hsing-wen, spokesperson for Eiffem Foods, Taiwan's
distributor of Pedigree.
"This
does not mean there is something wrong with Pedigree. We
are doing this out of the sense of responsibility and to
show we are concerned about the dogs (dying)," she said.
Rumours
began circulating on the internet early this year that hundreds
of pet dogs in Taiwan had fallen ill after eating Pedigree
- 30 of them dying from massive kidney failures.
Further
reports claimed that most of the dogs that were dying were
puppies, which has confused many of Taiwan's health officials
and vets as it is usually only adult dogs that die from
kidney failures.
Some
dog owners suspect that this specific batch of Pedigree,
which was made in Thailand, might have been contaminated
by the recent outbreak of the bird flu epidemic in that
country.
However,
tests done by the Taiwan branch of the Switzerland-based
SGS Laboratory and by Taiwan's Department of Agriculture
recently showed that Pedigree is safe for canine consumption.
Eiffem
Foods Taiwan has put up one million Taiwan dollars to help
authorities and health officials find out the cause of the
dogs' mysterious deaths. - Sapa-dpa
Edited
by Anthea Jonathan
Source:
website of Animal News Centre - www.anc.org
