Raw meat for dogs a human health risk

FEEDING dogs fashionable raw meat diets puts their owners at risk, say Whitehall scientists.

Giving uncooked meat and offal to pets has grown in popularity, but Public Health England (PHE) warns, in a report into diseases spread by animals to humans, that raw meats can harbour dangerous bacteria – with fatal results in one case.

Celebrity advocates of raw feeding for pets include Springwatch presenter and poodle owner Chris Packham, who commented on a dog food website: “After doing a bit of research, I discovered raw feeding and have never looked back.”

In its latest report, PHE said a food poisoning outbreak in August 2017 left four people seriously ill.

One unnamed victim died of acute kidney failure.

The common link between all four cases – in the north-east and south-east – was contact with dogs. All four were struck down by the same STEC bug – shiga-toxigenic Escherichia coli – and three dogs were fed on raw meat diets containing green tripe.

PHE said that its report suggested “an increasing trend in potential risk to humans from raw pet food”.

Also, Daniella Dos Santos. of the British Veterinary Association, said: “Meat that has not been cooked properly may contain bacteria and/or parasites that can make a dog or cat ill. There is also a public health risk.”