A single property in the Northern Territory has been identified as the source of toxic horse meat, believed responsible for a spate of dog deaths in Victoria.
At least 23 pet dogs have died, and 67 have been hospitalised in Victoria from indospicine toxicity.
Authorities said it believed the property sold a truckload of about 25 horses that were due to go to a meatworks in Queensland but were redirected to Victoria because of COVID-19 lockdowns.
In the Northern Territory, under its Meat Industries Act 1996, it is illegal for a person to slaughter a horse for pet food “if he or she knows, or has reason to suspect, it has been in an area in which Birdsville Horse Disease occurs”, the disease caused by horses eating a native species of Indigofera, high in indospicine levels.
Primesafe and Agriculture Victoria have warned dog owners that test results confirmed pet meat processed at the Maffra & District Knackery Pty Ltd of Wombat Road, Boisdale, also known as Maffra District Knackery, as the source of indospicine, which caused the recent cluster of liver disease and dog deaths in Victoria.
