Toxin found in pet food believed to be the cause of dog deaths

Horse meat is emerging as the focus of the investigation into the indospicine toxin found in pet meat products at the Maffra Knackery at Boisdale in Victoria's east, authorities believe.

PrimeSafe and Agriculture Victoria are now 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.

Dogs are extremely sensitive to the toxin.

Given the difficulties identifying the toxin in pet meat, dog owners should not feed their pet any fresh or frozen raw pet meat sourced from Maffra Knackery between May 31 and July 3, Agriculture Victoria said.

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.

"If unsure, owners are advised to contact their pet meat supplier to check where and when their pet meat was sourced," an Agriculture Victoria spokeswoman said.

"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."

Since the end of May, government agencies have been made aware of 61 affected dogs, of which 21 have died.

These cases were predominantly in Bairnsdale, Traralgon, the Mornington Peninsula and eastern suburbs of Melbourne. On

The toxin is found in native plants of the Indigofera species across Australia, but the species that produces high levels of the toxin is found in northern Australia, Agriculture Victoria said.

For more information, visit primesafe.vic.gov.au.