Dog poisoning cause ‘was natural’
Posted by admin on January 8th, 2010The toxin which killed several dogs and left others ill after being walked in Nottinghamshire woodland was not man-made, tests have confirmed.
Natural England investigated four cases and quickly ruled out common pesticides but further tests have found no artificial poisons.
No definitive cause has been identified but infection from ticks is suspected.
In September, owners were advised to keep dogs on a lead in Haywood Oaks, Blidworth Woods, Sherwood Pines and Thieves Wood.
Owners upset
A Natural England spokesman said that while no direct proof had been found, ticks or mites were the most likely cause.
Claire Goodear, a vet who treated some of the ill dogs, said: “The dogs I saw had vomiting, diarrhoea and breathing difficulties but there are several diseases and poisons which can produce these symptoms.
“Tick-borne diseases are quite rare in the UK, they are more common in warmer countries but we do see a couple every so often.”
Sherry Fern from Sutton-in-Ashfield, who lost one dog in the incident, said it was difficult not to know the cause.
“When we had the initial report back it was actually quite upsetting, because while we don’t want to find that someone had been deliberately leaving poison-but the frustrating thing is we don’t know why the dogs died.
“It was not just the dogs that were affected, it was the other wildlife and we don’t know how to stop it happening again.”
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