Pufferfish suspected in deaths of dogs
AT LEAST two dogs – possibly five – have died after being poisoned on the beach at Zimbali, near Ballito.
It is not clear what they consumed but a possibility is it was poisonous pufferfish that had washed up on the shore.
“That they ate the pufferfish is logical but it’s not conclusive,” said vet Kevin Stevens who saw the two dead dogs.
Local chatter puts the death toll at five but no further cases could be confirmed.
“The only factual consistency is that the affected dogs all went for a walk at the beach,” Stevens said.
Retired highveld farmers Thinus and Christa Taljaard who lost their beloved Border collie, Amy, said they did not take her on to the sand.
“When my husband returned from the walk, he saw Amy was not looking right and took her to the vet.” She died at Stevens’s rooms.
Another Border collie, En so, was also seen to by the vet and hospitalised but was later discharged.
“Amy was a lovely dog,” said Christa. “She gave us pups and we still have two of them.”
She said it was the first time anything unfortunate had happened to their dogs on the beach since they moved to Ballito two years ago.
Simon Chater, aquarium curator at the South African Association for Marine Biological Research, which includes uShaka Sea World, in Durban, said the shallow-water fish were prone to being stunned by cold snaps that caused them to be washed up.
“They are the first to ‘get it’ when it’s cold,” he said, adding that incidents of human or animal fatalities from eating them were rare because “they don’t look palatable. But kids and pets can be at risk”.
Pufferfish meat, with the poisonous parts removed, is a “risky” delicacy in some Asian cuisines.
“Domestic preparation occasionally leads to accidental death,” according to Wikipedia.
However, reports of malicious poisoning has been noted further up the coastal region, in Empangeni. In the past two months, nine dogs have succumbed to the poison known as “two step” fed to them by burglars with the intention of breaking into the homes they guard.
Officially called Temik, the poison gets its nickname from the fact it is so quick to kick-in that a dog will die within two steps after consuming it.