Wednesday 3 December 2014

Up to 50 cats poisoned a month by antifreeze in fountains


Environment Minister George Eustice called for warnings on garden fountains after telling MPs people used anti-freeze to stop them icing up in winter

By Keith Perry

6:05PM GMT 02 Dec 2014

Around 50 cats are being poisoned a month by people putting anti-freeze in garden water features, a minister has said.

Environment Minister George Eustice called for warnings on water features after telling MPs he was concerned to learn people used anti-freeze to stop them icing up in winter.

He added it may also be necessary to make clear the risks posed to pets by anti-freeze.

Conservative Mark Spencer had warned ''more than a cat and a half a day'' are suffering traumatic deaths as a result of anti-freeze.

Cats Protection had spotted 1,197 reports of anti-freeze poisoning of cats in the country since November 2012, around 50 deaths a month, Mr Spencer said.

Ethylene glycol in anti-freeze has a sweet taste to small animals but is extremely toxic when consumed in small doses and can rapidly lead to kidney failure and death, MPs were told.

Mr Spencer asked the Government to consider making it mandatory for anti-freeze products to include Bitrex to deter cats, dogs, hedgehogs and ''other small mammals in the countryside'' from consuming them.

1 comment:

  1. Quite a few vehicle manufacturers these days are using propylene glycol instead of ethylene glycol; propylene glycol is so non-toxic that the American EPA consider it safe (it is also the main bulking agent in e-cigs).

    Ethylene glycol antifreeze is normally stained blue; propylene glycol is normally stained pink and seems to be the new standard for automotive applications. Certainly my 2008 Toyota has this colour of antifreeze in the coolant.

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