Beijing - Latest in the melamine contamination saga, as many as 1,500 Chinese dogs have died after eating melamine-tainted animal feed. The chemical has already been linked to contaminated dairy products which have sickened tens of thousands of babies nationwide.

The raccoon dogs, a breed native to East Asia primarily raised for its fur, were fed on melamine laced animal feed. While lab reports confirm that animal feed was tainted with melamine, animal necropsy, an animal autopsy, reports reveal they had developed kidney stones.

"First, we found melamine in the dogs' feed, and second, I found that 25 percent of the stones in the dogs' kidneys were made up of melamine," Zhang Wenkui, a veterinary Professor at Shenyang Agriculture University said.

While Zhang declined to unveil the exact dates of the deaths, nation's leading news group, the Southern Metropolis Daily, said the deaths have occured over the past two months, all in one particular farm.

Melamine, an organic base and a trimmer of cyanamide, is commonly used in the manufacturing of plastics, fertilizer, paint and adhesives. The addition of chemical to eatables not only hoodwinks the quality-control tests, but also makes the product appear rich in protein.

Though the intake of small doses of Melamine is innocuous, however, ingesting the chemical in larger doses can lead to kidney stones and subsequent failure.

Last fall too, dozens of dogs and cats in the United States died after eating Chinese-made petdefine food contaminated with melamine.

The news serves yet another blow to the already tainted image of sub-standard Chinese products. While the previous scandals have initiated numerous company recalls and a partial or total ban on Chinese imports in numerous countries, stricter actions are now called for.