TVcin^iVlU POISON CASE 



Solved by Control Service 



A DETECTIVE AGENCY is 

 hardly what we should expect 

 to find behind the ivy-covered 

 walls of the West Experiment Sta- 

 tion that houses the Control Service. 

 But with so many cases of suspected 

 animal poisoning brought to the 

 attention of the Service, solving 

 mysteries seems to be the order of 

 the day for the analysts. At any 

 rate, some of the cases make absorb- 

 ing reading for those who love a 

 mystery. 



At the request of a veterinarian, 

 the Control Service analyzes sam- 

 ples of feed and vital organs of 

 animals. Whenever the outbreak 

 of disease coincides with the de- 

 livery of a new lot of feed, it is 

 natural for an animal owner to 

 suspect the feed. 



It is almost impossible to state 

 positively from chemical analysis 

 alone that a feed contains no in- 

 jurious material. Therefore, when 

 an animal feed is received, it is fed 

 to a test group of rats. A poultry 

 feed is fed to a test group of chicks. 

 If the chicks or rats are affected, 

 the^feed is analyzed chemically un- 

 less the symptoms are so character- 

 istic of a particular poison that 

 chemical analysis is not necessary. 



Recently two veterinarians re- 

 ported to the Control Service that 

 several dogs in three towns had 

 died with symptoms similar to those 

 seen in rats poisoned by Warfarin. 

 All the dogs had been fed the same 

 brand of dog meal. Samples of 

 feed bought by three of the dog 



♦Head of Feed and Fertilizer" Control Services. 



By JOHN W. KUZMESKI 



owners were collected by the' feed 

 manufacturer and submitted for 

 analysis. A fourth sample from a 

 new lot of feed mixed at a different 

 time was also submitted. 



Four test groups containing three 

 rats in each group were fed each of 

 the samples received. All the rats 

 that ate the feeds collected from 

 the dog owners became sick, and 

 five died with characteristic symp- 

 toms of Warfarin poisoning. The 

 rats receiving the new feed re- 

 mained healthy. 



The feed manufacturer could not 

 explain how Warfarin got into the 

 dog meal, since Warfarin was not 

 used as a rat poison at the plant. 

 Furthermore, the dog meal was 

 mixed in 2000-pound lots, and the 

 owners reporting death of dogs ac- 

 counted for only about 400 pounds 

 of feed. No reports were received 

 from the buyers of the other 1600 

 pounds of feed. Despite the puzzl- 

 ing circumstances, the feed manu- 

 facturer has settled all claims to the 

 entire satisfaction of the dog owners. 



This case is unique in the history 

 of Massachusetts Feed Control. 

 It is the only one in which an actual 

 poison has been found in the feed 

 as it left the manufacturer's plant. 



In another case, two cows in a 

 herd of fourteen in the same pas- 

 ture died on successive days. The 

 veterinarian suspected poisoning 

 and submitted the stomach contents 

 for analysis. 



A large amount of Paris green, 

 a copper arsenite compound, was 

 found. After receiving the report 



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