Pet food containing foreign objects found at east Japan park after dog has seizure

YOKOHAMA -- Dog food tainted with foreign objects was recently found scattered at a park south of Tokyo after a dog had a seizure there, prompting police to warn pet owners and locals.

According to police, a couple in their 40s were walking their large dog at Daiichi Undo Koen park in the Kanagawa Prefecture city of Zushi when the pet suddenly had a seizure. They rushed it to a vet, and the dog was reportedly diagnosed as "possibly having eaten a foreign object" and taken into care.

Upon receiving a report from the owners on the morning of Jan. 29, Zushi Police Station officers searched the area and found sweet potato dog food laced with foreign objects, torn into some 15 pieces 1 to 2 centimeters in length, within a radius of about 100 meters in the park. The police station has not revealed the characteristics of the foreign objects. Police are investigating the matter on suspicion of a possible violation of the animal welfare law.

Sticks of pet food with needles stuck in them have been found on streets of Yokohama, Sagamihara, Zama and elsewhere in Kanagawa Prefecture since June 2022, and there have been a number of cases in which dogs were injured after eating them.

(Japanese original by Masakatsu Oka and Daisuke Makino, Yokohama Bureau)