A FARMER'S LOSS.

Shannon News, 30 November 1928, Page 3

A FARMER 'S LOSS.

FOUR HEIFERS DEAD .THROUGH

PAINT-POISONING.

THREE OTHERS AFFECTED

Paint is not commonly labelled poison, but it. is quite as certain in its toxic results as many articles to which printed warnings are attached. The latest case in point is one affecting some cows belonging to Mr James Avery, of Lindsay Road. On Sunday morning he found three of his yearling Jersey heifers dead in a gully, and later a fourth was discovered in a dying conditions. All had been frothing at the mouth —a symptom generally pointing to poisoning—and as the affair was a mystery to the owner, he eommunicat.f d with the police. A seareh of the property by Constable Bagrie and. himself ensued, and eventually an old paint;-tin was found on the aection, where it had evidently been left a long time ago unknown to the present occupier. It contained a quantity of dried-up paint, and from the depression in the surface it was observable that the cows had licked away a small quantity, equivalent to three or four tablespoonfuls. The incident serves to show that little more than a trace of paint entering an animal’s system is sufficient to cause death, owing to the lead content of the mixture.

A similar ease occurred not- long ago at Wirokino, at the place where a timber lorry was overturned and a man killed last August. Some paint was capsized with the timber; the. tins were subsequently cleared away, but the paint spilt on the ground was licked by- two heifers, which died in consequence. An analysis of the stomach of one of the dead cops on Mr Avery’s farm was made yesterday by Mr W. H. Pink, veterinary practitioner, and the result went to confirm the assumption that the animals had succumbed to paintpoisoning. In addition to losing four heifers, Mr Avery has three others sick through the same cause, but it is hoped that with careful treatment they will recover.

For the benefit of those who are unfamiliar with the symptoms, it may be explained that the entry of a lead ingredient into the stomach produces frothing at the mouth, violent convulsions, and paralysis. The age of the paint left in discarded tins is immaterial; even when the pigment has dried it is still poisonous, and any water that may be lying on top of it is distinctly so. Paint tins can be easily burnt out, and it is advisable that this precaution be generally .observed.