If, for some reason, you happen to have camel steak for dinner tonight, make sure you dont feed any scraps to your dog.

According a study by Australian scientists, dogs can contract severe or even fatal liver disease from consuming camel meat containing the toxic amino acid indospicine. Camels that graze on the Indigofera plant in arid regions of Australia ingest indospicine from the plants, which is then passed on through the meat.

The study authors looked at four dogs that presented with clinical signs of severe hepatic disease after consuming a commercial camel meat diet. According to the study:

"Histologically, both livers appeared similar, with the main lesion being extensive periacinar necrosis and haemorrhage. Indospicine, a toxic amino acid of plant origin, was detected in the serum and/or plasma from all four dogs, as well as in tissues of a dog that was necropsied and in a sample of the camel meat fed to this animal."

The report, "Hepatotoxicosis in dogs consuming a diet of camel meat contaminated with indospicine," appears in the March issue of the Australian Veterinary Journal.