Dogs may have been used to make Petfood and animal feed
A major police investigation is underway in Spain since last year into allegations that stray and abandoned dogs have ended up in petfood and livestock feed, a Spanish newspaper reported.
According to reports a criminal gang in Spain took the bodies of dogs and other animals from animal sanctuaries, vets, zoos and farms, awaiting incineration, and processed them to create protein and fats that could be sold on.
Last year, police found a warehouse filled with 15 tonnes of dead stray dogs which they believe were going to be processed into animal feed, in the Galician town of As Neves. Similar stocks have also been found in other warehouses in Northern Spain.
Seprona, the environmental arm of the Guardia Civil, has sent samples of commercial pet food to the Anfaco-Cecopesca laboratories in Vigo, Galicia, after a judge received reports from an industry whistle-blower.
Laboratory tests of fat samples, intended for animal feed, at one of the processing plants based in the town of Aldeaseca de la Frontera, in Salamanca, there were DNA traces of both sheep and dog.
Scottish Labour MEP, Alyn Smith, said: ‘These revelations from Spain indicate just where I fear this may be going. By the time meat becomes “protein” then traceability all but breaks down, especially in the pet and animal feed markets.
‘I’m concerned that given the EU-wide pet food market this contamination could be considerably more widespread.
‘The spectre of forced cannibalism turns this issue into something considerably more serious, and we need reassurance that this is an isolated incident of criminality, albeit it would seem on a pretty significant scale given the reported sourcing of 15 tonnes of dogs must take some organisation.’
Source: DailyMail
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