When an Irish Setter died shortly after returning from the Crufts dog show, people broke into two camps: one camp said it was most likely gastric torsion (very common), and another said it was deliberate poisoning from PETA or dog-show competitors.
Now the truth has come out and Occam's Razor wins: It was rat or insecticide poison found at home, or near home, and consumed after the Crufts dog show.
Dog poisonings from rat and insect poisons found at home, or near home, are very common.
The two poisons in this case were carbofuran and aldicarb, two common ant and insect poisons that are sold the world over, though banned in the U.S. and the EU.
I have written about these poisons before as they are the chief reason Africa's lion population has crashed from 200,000 to 30,000 in the last decade.
Because the two poisons were delivered in meat, this has to be assumed to be a deliberate poisoning.
Rather than look to England, however, the Belgian owners of this Irish Setter should be looking much closer to home.
I will bet the poisoner does not live more than a block away and has a connection to Africa or Eastern Europe.
- Related Post:
** Rat Poison and Wildlife Conservation
5 comments:
Nah.. I reckon it was some old chap in the neighbourhood who's had this stuff in an old shed for years, pissed off because the local foxes are taking his hens, or whatever. He put the bait out late at night thinking only the foxes would pick it up and, oops, a $50,000 (purportedly...) show dog is walked round the block last thing at night and found it.
Great claims demand great proof...
I like your explanation better than mine.
It is amazing how many idiots put out unsecured poisoned meat.
Had a friend lose three lovely family pets, in her own garden, that way. It's thought that someone had put down unsecured poison and wild animals had dragged it into the (dog-secure) garden. No noise complaints or problems with neighbours to account for deliberate poisoning.
It was the child of the house who found the dogs dead and dying. Seriously, people should be more careful with poison!
Deliberate dog poisoning is not uncommon in Hong Kong, so maybe the connection is there.
There is a group: Raptors are the Solution.org that is campaigning against use of rat poisons for the reasons mention in the posts. Poisons are random and secondary kills are a huge problem.
There is a product available called saferrodentcontrol.com that does have the secondary poisoning issue.
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