A PERTH vet has criticised a national television ad which showed a dog being fed Christmas pudding.
Harvey Carruthers, of Tay Valley Vets, says the raisins contained in the festive treat can be toxic for pets.
He has now lent his support to a Facebook campaign which has labelled the Morrisons ad “highly irresponsible” and aims to raise awareness of the problem.
The advert, which has aired across the country, shows a young boy passing unwanted Christmas pudding to his younger sibling, who feeds it to the dog. The canine is equally unimpressed and dumps it in a plant pot, which sees the houseplant promptly wilt.
The ad is designed to promote the supermarket’s range of alternative Christmas treats, but campaigners fear it could lead to dogs being poisoned after being fed Christmas pudding by owners who are unaware of the danger.
While it’s common knowledge that chocolate is poisonous to dogs, fewer people are aware that grapes, or their dried form raisins can cause renal failure.
Mr Carruthers, who has worked as a vet for 23 years, said: “I think the problem is that a lot of people don’t know, either because they’ve never heard of it, or because their own dogs eat grapes and raisins and they don’t have any problem.
“My mother feeds her Jack Russell grapes, to my horror, and she’s never had a problem, but it’s well recorded that other dogs die in a pretty nasty way.
“Unfortunately, it could lead to some animals dying if they copy the ad. Anything that promotes something that is going to kill animals is irresponsible.
“It’s inherently a bad idea to encourage people to give dogs Christmas pudding, or anything which contains raisins.”
He added that owners should keep an eye out for their dog stealing toxic foods.
He said: “I think that what more commonly happens is that dogs steal these things, so you should keep an eye on your dogs, especially little dogs.
“If a little terrier eats a lot of cake it probably will cause problems, but if a big labrador eats it they are four times the weight and they have fewer problems.”
A Morrisons spokesman said they had taken professional advice prior to making the advert, which is no longer being shown, but have now changed their advice to pet owners.
He said: “By taking veterinary advice prior to the advert being filmed and having a vet in attendance we took all reasonable precautions against featuring poor pet care.
“However, after taking into account the overwhelming number of opposing views from other professionals, we are now advising customers against feeding their dogs any raisins or sultanas at all.”
ktopping@thecourier.co.uk