A news item in the paper caught my eye on Sunday. It seems that Homebase are selling their own brand of slug and snail killer pellets under the brand name "Grow Your Own". A plastic bottle of these pellets costs £1.99 and has these words on the front of it.
Contains an animal repellant to reduce attractiveness to pets
Having read this, I think that most people would assume it was safe to use when pets were allowed into the garden.. Mr & Mrs Walch certainly assumed so, and after spreading the pellets allowed both their chocolate labradors their usual freedom to roam in their garden. Imagine their horror, when a few hours after eating some of the pellets, their four year old labrador Milo was dead as a result of eating them.
Mrs Walch noticed that Milo was fitting, his eyes were bulging and he was convulsing. A phone call to the emergency vet resulted in Milo being sedated, and the family were told it was the worst case of metaldehyde poisoning she had ever seen. By the time the family got home, the vet phoned them to say that Milo was virtually brain dead, and it was suggested that he be put to sleep.
West Yorkshire Trading standards Office Bob Unwin has stated that after the results of testing it will be decided whether Homebase can improve the labelling.
Don't waste any more time. Of course they can improve their labelling. Just tell them to get their fingers out and get the skull and cross bones symbol and the words "Poisonous to animals" in huge letters across the container immediately, before any more well loved pets suffer as a result of their sloppy labelling.
Those of you who follow this blog will know that we have a much loved chocolate Labrador - hence my strong feelings re the above.
No comments:
Post a Comment