Birdseed recalled amid poison scare

A NUMBER of birdseed mixes have been removed from Namibian shops after wild and pet birds fed with them died in Windhoek in recent weeks, Government officials have confirmed.

But the manager of the biggest pet food supplier in Namibia denies that the deaths had anything to do with birdseed. People who feed wild birds told The Namibian last week that they had noticed dead birds in their gardens shortly after feeding them.Tests performed on the dead birds by Dr Anna Marais of the State Veterinary Services revealed that they had been poisoned.A reliable source in the Ministry of Agriculture, who did not want his name published, said suspected birdseed was recalled from the market, as certain pesticides had been found in them.He said samples of the seeds had been sent to Pretoria, South Africa, for further testing.However, the source could not say which brands of birdseed were recalled before the results of the tests are back.He said the biggest distributor of pet food in Namibia, A&R Pet Supplies, had been ordered to stop selling its remaining stock of birdseed.But the company’s manager, Roland Bauer, denied that they had received any such order, saying the Ministry could not prove that any of the seeds contained poison.”They were here but they could not prove it,” said Bauer, who refused to give the names of suspect brands.He added that they were considering legal action against Government for harming the image of their products.On Monday, Benhard Newman, the Chief Animal Technician in the Department of Veterinary Services, confirmed that about 30 dead birds, mostly pigeons and doves, had been collected for testing to determine the cause of death.They had been poisoned, Newman said, probably by organophosphate pesticides in birdseed.Organophosphates are added to seed meant for planting – to protect the seed against insects – but the poison is dangerous to animals and people and agricultural seed should never be eaten.According to environmentalist Nally Matt-Adams, a number of animal feeds contain a certain percentage of pesticides and it could be that which killed the birds.The bird deaths could also have been caused by garden pesticides, she said.According to her, Namibians use pesticides too freely without thinking of the consequences.Matt-Adams said there was a need for major awareness campaign to educate people about the danger of using poisons such as pesticides.Poison has a snowball effect, because it travels throughout the food chain.For example, when a chicken eats a poisoned insect, and people eat the chicken, the poison can be passed on to them.”But people take it lightly,” she said.People who feed wild birds told The Namibian last week that they had noticed dead birds in their gardens shortly after feeding them.Tests performed on the dead birds by Dr Anna Marais of the State Veterinary Services revealed that they had been poisoned.A reliable source in the Ministry of Agriculture, who did not want his name published, said suspected birdseed was recalled from the market, as certain pesticides had been found in them.He said samples of the seeds had been sent to Pretoria, South Africa, for further testing.However, the source could not say which brands of birdseed were recalled before the results of the tests are back.He said the biggest distributor of pet food in Namibia, A&R Pet Supplies, had been ordered to stop selling its remaining stock of birdseed.But the company’s manager, Roland Bauer, denied that they had received any such order, saying the Ministry could not prove that any of the seeds contained poison.”They were here but they could not prove it,” said Bauer, who refused to give the names of suspect brands.He added that they were considering legal action against Government for harming the image of their products.On Monday, Benhard Newman, the Chief Animal Technician in the Department of Veterinary Services, confirmed that about 30 dead birds, mostly pigeons and doves, had been collected for testing to determine the cause of death.They had been poisoned, Newman said, probably by organophosphate pesticides in birdseed.Organophosphates are added to seed meant for planting – to protect the seed against insects – but the poison is dangerous to animals and people and agricultural seed should never be eaten.According to environmentalist Nally Matt-Adams, a number of animal feeds contain a certain percentage of pesticides and it could be that which killed the birds.The bird deaths could also have been caused by garden pesticides, she said.According to her, Namibians use pesticides too freely without thinking of the consequences.Matt-Adams said there was a need for major awareness campaign to educate people about the danger of using poisons such as pesticides.Poison has a snowball effect, because it travels throughout the food chain.For example, when a chicken eats a poisoned insect, and people eat the chicken, the poison can be passed on to them.”But people take it lightly,” she said.