Importers defend Lanate’s bad name
By Jacqueline Theodoulou
A SPECIAL substance that stops animals from consuming pesticides has been added to leading brand Lanate, resulting in a slight decrease in pet poisonings.
Lanate, which has been widely blamed in Cyprus for animal poisonings, is now said to be one of the safest pesticides on the market.
Lanate importer Christos Zanettos told the Cyprus Mail that these substances were included in the trademark brand a few years ago and that Lanate has unfairly been receiving bad press.
He explained, “Lanate was the first pesticide to be imported to Cyprus and at the time it had no taste or odour, meaning it was favoured by people who wanted to poison animals.
“But a few years ago a bitter and emetic substance was added, which puts animals off eating it. And if it is consumed, it makes animals vomit.”
According to Zanettos, there are around 50 different types of pesticides imported to Cyprus. “Unfortunately these are being used to kill animals.”
The Veterinary Services have for years been trying to have the specific substance added to all pesticides and according to a source at the Agriculture Ministry, efforts are currently underway to offer a broader solution to the problem.
“The addition of these substances will not protect all animals from poisonings. But there are far less poisonings now than there were a few years back,” a source at the Veterinary Services said yesterday.
“There will always be unscrupulous people who place poison down for animals, but things are a lot more positive now than they were,” he added.
The services’ official offered a useful tip for pet owners who suspect their animal has consumed poison: “The first thing you should do is contact a vet immediately. In the meantime, make your pet drink salt water.
“This will make it vomit and delay the effect of the poison.
Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2007
The first thing is that the stuff is called Lannate and not Lanate as the ignorant importers pretend. Lannate is a registered trademark of E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co.
The word lanate means woolly and is also used as a trade mark for some lanolin-based beauty products. As such, to imply Lanate is toxic could be considered as defamatory.
There is little doubt that Lannate IS used effectively to kill animals ant Zanettos' arguments smell like weaselling to protect his sales. In any case he lies when he says that Lannate was the first pesticide in Cyprus. I don't know when it was first imported, but it is a comparatively recent product compared with Flit broad-spectrum insecticide which was imported in the 1930s. The DDT used for the mosquito-eradication programme in the 1940s-50s predates Lannate by at least 10 years. I therefore suggest that this article be taken with a pinch of salt, as the importer clearly has lowered his credibility.
However, the most important point is that the last 2 paragraphs is a big load of bovine excrement and very dangerous for dogs (possibly cats, as well, but I don't know that for sure). Dogs cannot tolerate high salt dosages and if you give sufficient salt to produce emesis, he will suffer from hypernatriemia which may be fatal. This will induce severe neuropathic symptoms including convulsions and possibly coma. In severe cases, there is absolutely nothing can be done to save the animal. Even if he survives, the kidneys will be damaged in an attempt to reduce the sodium level in the electrolytes, potentially resulting in fatal nephrosis. There have been cases of dogs dying after drinking small quantities of sea water.
There is only one valid treatment for acute Lannate poisoning and that is a course of atropine IV injections administered as soon as possible.
All cases of depositing poisoned bait should be immediately reported to the police. It is a criminal offence.
