Stray dogs from Spain 'may have been used to make pet food and farm animal feed'

Spanish authorities have sent dozens of pet food samples for testing



Say proteins from dogs may have been used in some processed food

Major police operation underway in Spain investigating criminal gangs



Dogs may have been stolen from sanctuaries, vets and zoos for food

Food Standards Agency said it is liaising with Spanish counterparts



Stray and abandoned dogs taken from the streets of Spain may have ended up in pet food and farm animal feed, it has emerged.

The authorities in Spain have not ruled out the possibility that protein or fats from the carcasses may even have been used in some processed human food.

Britain’s Food Standards Agency says it is aware of the investigation and it is liaising with its counterparts in Spain.

Stolen: Gangs apparently took dogs from animal sanctuaries and processed them for sale (file picture)

Food chain: Stray dogs taken from Spain may have ended up in pet food or farm animal feed (file picture)

A spokesman said: ‘We are aware of these reports and are in contact with the Spanish authorities about their investigation.

‘We are currently not testing food for meat from dogs. Our priority is to test beef products for gross contamination with horse meat because that is where the problem clearly is.’

A criminal gang in Spain apparently took the bodies of dogs and other animals from animal sanctuaries, vets, zoos and farms, which should have been incinerated, and then processed them to create protein and fats that could be sold on.

Evidence has been found at warehouses and processing plants in Galicia and Salamanca.

Last year, police found a warehouse filled with 15 tons of dead stray dogs which they believe were going to be processed into animal feed, in the Galician town of As Neves.

Similar grisly discoveries have been found in warehouses elsewhere in the north of Spain.

Seprona, the environmental arm of the Guardia Civil, has sent dozens of samples of commercial pet food to the Anfaco-Cecopesca laboratories in Vigo, Galicia, after a judge received reports from an industry whistle-blower.

According to laboratory tests performed in one of the processing plants based in the town of Aldeaseca de la Frontera, in Salamanca, fat samples destined for animal feed had DNA traces of both sheep and dog.

Cannibalism: Spanish authorities have sent pet food samples for testing after reports from a whistleblower. Tests have already shown fat samples to be used in animal feed had traces of both sheep and dog

A major police investigation has been underway since March 2012, according to a report in Spain’s El Mundo newspaper.

The pressure group Viva, which campaigns against meat eating, is writing to UK supermarkets to ask them to test their food for the presence of dog and other species.

Its campaigns manager, Justin Kerswell, said: ‘It is a horrifying possibility that dog and rat meat might have entered the human food chain, but given the depth of ineptitude shown and the EU-wide fraud the horse meat scandal has exposed, it seems entirely plausible.

‘It may only be a matter of time before dog, rat and perhaps even cat meat is found in British processed food or farmed animal feed.

‘British supermarkets have been selling horse meat to consumers for years without knowing it, so what else has been on sale? They will have no idea unless they specifically test for it.’

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.