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Pet food company Evanger’s has issued a recall on pet food products after a lethal drug was found in one of its cans.
On New Year’s Eve, pet owner Nikki Mael / nɪk i meɪl / fed her four dogs dog food from the same can of Evanger’s Hunk of Beef Au Jus / hʌŋk əv bif oʊ ˈʒü /. Shortly after, the dogs fell ill, which eventually resulted in the death of one of them. Evanger’s, the Illinois-based pet food company that manufactured the dog food, immediately launched an investigation. Results showed signs of pentobarbital in both the dead dog’s stomach and the dog food.
Pentobarbital is an agent used in euthanasia, or deliberate killing. Although the substance is commonly injected into animals, only veterinarians can facilitate the procedure. However, there is no way to identify animals killed using the drug since they are not marked. This creates the risk of the drug entering the food chain if a dead animal was not disposed of properly and got eaten by scavengers.
Even though the source of contamination remains unknown, five of Evanger’s dog food products have been recalled. Hunk of Beef Au Jus is Evanger’s best-selling food, and at least 200 dogs were believed to have already consumed the product from the batch that includes the dog food that killed Mael’s dog. However, no other dog owners in the country reported a case similar to Mael’s.
In February, pet food company PetSmart conducted a similar recall on its Grreat Choice Adult Dog Food after its manufacturer received customer complaints about a metal, which could cause choking in pets, found in some of its cans.