Will Bird Flu in Austalia effect dogs?

If you’ve been reading the news, you might have seen there has been a new outbreak of bird flu in Victoria.

It's a worrying development. But before digging into how this effects dogs, it’s worth noting that all previous outbreaks in Australia have so far been contained. Hopefully our excellent biosecurity will continue to keep us all safe, dogs included.

How does this effect dogs?

There have been zero reported deaths of dogs to date that I can find. The FDA states that dogs “exhibit mild clinical signs and low mortality compared to cats”. 

So while bird flu is potentially dangerous to dogs, the risks are significantly lower than other animals.

Sourcing good quality human-grade chickens and proper food safety practices is always the best way to keep your dog safe.

What chicken are we using?

As for Whoa Nelly, we use beautiful Inglewood Organic chicken in our food. These chickens live outside and are super healthy.

Here's what the farm looks like:

Looks pretty good right! In my opinion these are the best chickens in QLD.

That said, it’s a real concern so I contacted Inglewood to ask about their safety procedures.

They assure me that they are watching the situation closely and have robust biosecurity protocols in place. Their SEQ farm is quite remote and not near other poultry farms which reduces risk.

In addition Inglewood have recently invested in netting their range areas which you can see in the photo. This helps prevent contamination from wild birds, which is how most transmission is occuring.

You can see footage and info of Inglewood’s organic chicken farm here.

We feel very confident in the quality and safety of the Inglewood Organic chickens we are using in our food. That said, we will (of course) continue to monitor the situation going forward.

What about eggs?

As for eggs, the supply issue with eggs is being compounded by major retailers moving away from caged eggs. This is causing massive disruption in the industry as they pivot to free range - but is obviously a fantastic and necessary development.

Unfortunately it means that egg prices are unlikely to drop any time soon.

Overall it’s a concerning development for Australia, and we are keeping a close eye on it to make sure our raw dog food is always safe and amazing quality.