Today's silly story on ragwort comes from the Skegness Standard where a story starts as follows:-
As I regularly say Ragwort is poisonous to both dogs and to dolphins but as neither species eats it and a considerable amount has to be eaten to kill it is not a serious risk.
A while ago I blogged about the well-known author Dr Germaine Grier commenting about this.
Unfortunately common sense and basic biological knowledge do not abound in the press and we see these silly stories appearing all the time.
See this for a briefing on ragwort and dogs.
A CONCERNED resident is urging dog walkers, children and passers-by to be mindful of potentially harmful ‘ragwort weed’ which is alleged to be growing in nearby Skegness fields.The implication being that the plant is of great danger. Of course as regular readers will know the stories about ragwort are largely made up and there is no serious risk. This is one of a regular stream of stories that occur, frightening people about their children and their dogs.
As I regularly say Ragwort is poisonous to both dogs and to dolphins but as neither species eats it and a considerable amount has to be eaten to kill it is not a serious risk.
A while ago I blogged about the well-known author Dr Germaine Grier commenting about this.
Unfortunately common sense and basic biological knowledge do not abound in the press and we see these silly stories appearing all the time.
See this for a briefing on ragwort and dogs.
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