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.
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