After Pet Dog Showed No Symptoms, Family Consumed Mushrooms and Suffered Nausea and Diarrhea
Online Communities Strongly Criticize: "This Is Animal Abuse"
An incident occurred in China where an entire family ended up in the hospital after consuming wild mushrooms. It was reported that they first fed the mushrooms to their pet dog to check for toxicity.
On August 14, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported the story of a 74-year-old woman surnamed Zhang, who lives in Sichuan Province, China.
On August 13, Zhang discovered several white, glossy, slippery wild mushrooms at the herbal farm she operates. Although she was aware that wild mushrooms could be poisonous, she did not want to waste them, so she cooked and fed them to her pet dog first.
After observing her dog for two days, Zhang concluded that there were no significant abnormalities apart from a slight decrease in the dog's appetite. Feeling assured of the mushrooms' safety, she served the mushroom dish to her husband and son as well. However, even though they only ate a small amount, about three hours later, they began experiencing symptoms such as nausea and diarrhea.
The Zhang family was immediately taken to the hospital, where they received gastric lavage treatment. After the treatment, Zhang realized that her dog's loss of appetite was actually an early symptom of mushroom poisoning.
When news of the incident spread, there was a strong backlash on Chinese online communities, with comments such as, "This is the consequence of not respecting animal life," and, "What is safe for humans can be dangerous for dogs, and vice versa." Some pointed out, "The very idea of experimenting on a pet is problematic."
Since China does not yet have a comprehensive animal protection law, it is reportedly difficult to hold people legally accountable for such 'pet safety experiments.'
Meanwhile, experts have warned that symptoms of mushroom poisoning can appear several hours after ingestion, depending on the type, and may initially present as mild digestive discomfort, so caution is needed. They especially emphasized that wild mushrooms often look almost identical to edible varieties, making it dangerous to collect and eat them without expert identification.
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