Avoiding Contaminated Pet Food and Other Poisons

Contaminated pet food with ingredients imported from China has recently been in the news. In the recent case, the pet foods were tainted by a chemical (commonly found in plastics) that was accidentally introduced into the foods. Over the years there have been other accidental situations where there were contaminated pet foods. However, there are other situations that can result in a pet being poisoned, some of which are accidental others that are not.

Accidental Pet Poisonings

Accidental pet poisonings can occur with more than just contaminated pet food. There are cases every year of pets being poisoned by other accidental means. For example, many pets are killed by consuming antifreeze. Antifreeze is consumed by animals because it has a sweet scent and taste, and the animal does not realize that it is poisoning them.

Animals that are kept indoors (and outdoors only under supervision) should not have a problem with antifreeze. However, since not all animals are indoor-only, and even animals that are can sneak out occasionally, pet owners and others should be careful to clean-up any antifreeze their car has left on the ground. Even better, individuals should keep their cars in good working order so that antifreeze does not leak onto the ground in the first place.

Other common household cleaning products and bug killers should be used carefully if you own pets. Look at labels closely and keep your pet away from these products. Make sure to not use these products with your pets around (lock them in another room if necessary) and if you are using a bug killer that goes into the air, keep their food and water well away from it and clean the area and their dishes and other items they use very well when you are done.

Purposeful Pet poisonings

Perhaps even more heartbreaking than accidentally contaminated pet food and accidental poisonings are purposeful pet poisonings. In this case a person actually means to hurt or kill their own or someone else?s pet. The reasons for this vary, it can be something as simple as a person being mad at a neighbor and wanting revenge or as complex as a genuinely sick individual that gets their kicks this way. Regardless of the reason, this is a good reason why harming animals should have more dire legal consequences than it currently does.