Australian producer VIP Pet Foods is investigating after a Melton man found what he thought were pieces of wire in puppy food.
Patrick Goudie, 21, bought a VIP Pet Foods’ Nature’s Goodness puppy roll from a Woolworths store in Melton early last week for his two staffy-cross-bullmastiff pups.
Mr Goudie claims that after eating the food, two-year-old Rydah and seven-week-old Tyga fell ill, started vomiting and would not eat for the next two days.
VIP Pet Foods chief operating officer Rex Devantier told Star Weekly that while the company was still investigating, he believed the black pieces found by Mr Goudie were nutgrass – a spiky, non-toxic weed found in gardens and lawns worldwide.
Mr Devantier said that since being alerted by Woolworths, VIP Pet Foods had paid vet costs to assess Tyga and Rydah and was waiting for Mr Goudie to bring in pet food samples to assess.
“The health and wellbeing of pets is our first priority,” Mr Devantier said.
“We’ve received confirmation [from the vet check] that there’s no foreign [metal] objects present in the animal.
“We have two critical control points in our dog food production line; the points are there to identify and reject foreign objects that are metallic.”
Speaking to Star Weekly last week, Mr Goudie said he was afraid the black pieces were metal and would affect the health of his pets.
“[Wednesday], one of the pups kept licking his lips,” Mr Goudie said.
“I looked in his mouth and he had this black thing between his teeth. I didn’t know what it was, but when I cut up the puppy roll I saw more of it.
“Since they ate the puppy roll, the two dogs have been chucking up. I love my dogs. My dogs are my everything; they’re my best friends. I’d be devastated if something happened to them.”
Mr Goudie uploaded a video of himself pulling apart the puppy roll in a bid to raise awareness and encourage anyone with similar incidents to come forward.
A Woolworths spokesman said the company was investigating the complaint with VIP Pet Foods.
“We take food complaints very seriously and made contact with the customer immediately after it was brought to our attention.”
A spokesman for the Pet Food Industry Association of Australia advised Mr Goudie to retain and return the pieces to the company.
A spokesman for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said it had not received any similar complaints about the brand of pet food involved, but encouraged anyone with similar experiences to return the affected goods to their place of purchase.
