A 74-year-old man from Sichuan, China, landed his family in the hospital after feeding them wild mushrooms he first tested on his pet dog.
On July 13, the man, surnamed Jiang, discovered clusters of white, slippery mushrooms growing on his herb farmland. They resembled termite mushrooms commonly sold in local markets, but he was aware that wild fungi could be poisonous.
Instead of discarding them, Jiang cooked the mushrooms and fed them to his dog, waiting two days to see if the animal showed any adverse reactions. Apart from a loss of appetite, the dog appeared fine — prompting Jiang to assume the mushrooms were safe.
He then served them to his wife and son, who cautiously ate only a few pieces. Within three hours, all three developed nausea and diarrhoea. They were rushed to the hospital, where doctors confirmed mushroom poisoning and performed gastric lavage.
It was only then that Jiang realised his dog’s lack of appetite was also a symptom of poisoning.
The incident triggered heated discussion online, with many criticising Jiang for endangering his pet’s life. Comments ranged from “So ignorant” to “What goes around comes around.”
Doctors in China warn against consuming wild mushrooms unless properly identified, as poisonous varieties such as the fool’s mushroom and Neoboletus venenatus are common in Sichuan and can easily be mistaken for edible species. Mushroom season in the region runs from June to October, and recent trends have seen more young people foraging for them — a practice experts caution can be deadly.
