Vets whine over photo

By Melissa Meehan
VINEYARDS in the Yarra Valley and other wine regions around Australia have been used as the backdrop for controversial book that includes pictures of dogs with grapes in their mouths.
The Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) has reacted with alarm to the new book, Wine Dogs Australia, saying dogs could suffer kidney failure if they ate significant amounts of grapes, sultanas or raisins.
Healesville veterinarian Brett Chester said that while he has seen examples of dogs becoming ill after eating grapes, he did not believe that Wine Dogs Australia was advocating that people should feed their dogs grapes.
“I don’t think that the book is advocating that dogs should be fed grapes but I understand AVA’s stance on the issue,” Dr Chester said.
Dr Chester said that he had treated a dog last year after it had consumed grapes.
“We had to monitor its kidney recovery, urine output and it took five days for it to recover,” Dr Chester said.
He said it was important that members of the community were aware of the problems that eating grapes can cause but said most people understood the dangers.
President of the AVA said that the precise nature of the toxicity is poorly understood.
But said that dogs that eat grapes often show symptoms such as vomiting and dehydration, and may have a poor chance of survival.
Craig McGill from Wine Dogs Australia said that it was not the book’s intention to suggest that dogs were fed grapes.
“It was more of a literal interpretation of the title.
“We have been to thousands of wineries to take the photos and that couldn’t have been further from our minds,” Mr McGill said. Mr McGill used the example of a photograph included in the book of a dog chewing on a ball.
“We are not saying that dogs should eat balls by including that photograph either,” Mr McGill said. He said he was surprised that the AVA had sent out a press release before contacting Wine Dogs Australia and that he was still to make contact with them.
“We love dogs,” Mr McGill said.
Wine Dogs Australia is currently being reprinted and released, and Mr McGill said that the reprint would include a statement stating that the book was not encouraging the feeding of grapes to dogs.