Dog homeowners have been issued an pressing warning over doubtlessly lethal meals. Experts declare uncooked meals could possibly be toxic to your four-legged good friend.

They say it is because it might comprise harmful doses of poisonous steel. New analysis from the University of Cambridge discovered uncooked pheasant meals might comprise lead.

In 77% of meals samples, the quantity of steel within the raw pheasant-based meals exceeded the protected restrict. Researchers examined 90 samples of 5 completely different pheasant-based pet food merchandise.

They discovered the concentrations to be 245 occasions over the restrict in simply one of many merchandise, whereas two others had been 135 occasions and 49 occasions greater, respectively.

Read extra: Vet says even the cutest of dogs shouldn't be left alone with children

Professor Debbie Pain, of Cambridge University's Zoology Department, mentioned: "We were already aware that lead concentrations in pheasant meat sold for human consumption are often far higher than would be permitted in other meats like chicken, beef or pork.

"However, we had been shocked to search out that lead concentrations in uncooked pheasant pet food merchandise had been a lot greater."

The lead concentration in dried pheasant-led food was still above the maximum residue levels. However, this was at lower levels than raw pheasant food.

Meanwhile, no chicken, goose or tinned pheasant samples contained any dangerous levels of lead. Raw meat diets are currently seeing a surge in popularity across the United Kingdom. 

Despite the possible dietary danger, lead shot can be used legally to kill game birds in the UK. Researchers however found just 34% of 50 online raw pet food sellers sold pheasant-based recipes.

And only 70% said their products may contain “shot”. Dogs eating food with such high concentrations of lead can pose a risk to their health, with puppies being particularly vulnerable.

Lead poisoning, which can be dangerous to both pets and humans, can lead to convulsions, coma and even death. Although most pheasants are eaten by people, some are minced and used in pet food.

Most pheasant meat is minced for pet food, meaning it could contain small particles of lead shot in the meat. This increases the chances of them being absorbed into the bloodstream.

Study co-author Professor Rhys Green said: "The reality that the majority samples from three randomly sampled uncooked pheasant pet meals merchandise had very excessive lead concentrations, and that our latest analysis on shot sorts used to kill pheasants discovered that 94% are shot with lead, means that it is a far broader situation than for simply these three merchandise.

"However, some producers may source pheasants that have not been shot with lead, and owners could ask about this when buying pet food."