P is for Poison. Again?

I'm afraid there's potentially bad news for dogowners in the peninsula again.

Since the events are still unfolding, there isn't much to go on. I'll just put down what I've gathered so far.

The Other Half heard yesterday evening from SheilaFudge that a dog named Charlie had died from ingesting poison at Ewenton. SheilaFudge had heard this from LianneTrudeau, who heard it from Calley, who walks Trudeau.

I'm not familiar with Charlie. He's apparently newish to the park. He sounds like he might be a puppy.

This morning, I found this comment on the blog, awaiting moderation. It was from one of Georgia's old friends, FranTara, whom we hadn't seen in a while, but who regularly goes to Ewenton -

Anonymous said...

Georgia, terrible news today. Suspected poisoning at Ewenton park today, not confirmed though. Oscar's very new friend Charlie was rushed to the vet and to everyone's dismay did not survive the ordeal. He had eaten something in the park and his mouth did turn blue, but the vet could not say what it was he had consumed. This is all so very sad and upsetting, Charlie was a lovely, playful happy guy, who really did not deserve this.

Your distant friend, Tara xox

I text FranTara but she had no further information. At this point, I thought I might contact my best bet, Calley, then make a quick post and send it out to all the locals on my emailing list.

I turned on the computer and found this email waiting for me  -

Hi Everyone,

I've text messaged most of you so sorry for the double up.

I just got a message directly from the owner that one of her dog's died from what seems to be poison. The pup only played this morning down at Ewenton Park. He had been vomiting, shaking and couldn't walk and died within a few hours.

I will update the blog as soon as I have more info.

Please pass on the message to any other dog owners if you can.

Cheers
Calley

So it would appear that Charlie, sadly, did die, and apparently from poison.

BUT WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT THE SOURCE IS YET.

Having just made a post last week about A Mystery Fruit that was making Georgia sick, I know there are all sorts of things out in a park that could potentially be toxic to dogs.

In short, I don't know that we can leap to any conclusions here that this was another [DELIBERATE act of] poisoning, as happened last year.

I'll end this post here, but will update it as and when I get more information. If you received this via email, please do alert any locals you might know. I don't think there's any harm in warning everyone to be vigilant.

If you're a local with more information, please do send me an email or leave a comment - with your name and the name of your dog[s] please! - at the bottom of this post.

Thank you and stay safe.



p.s. Here's the link to Calley's sweet blog where she chronicles her daily walks with her doggie clients. You might find more information there on the situation. It has wonderful pictures of our local dogs and is mostly a happy place :)

Update 9pm  A new email from Calley, which she has kindly given me permission to copy and paste here. Thank you!

I had a good chat with the owner of poor Charlie (who passed away yesterday).

Terri (the owner) said that both her dogs Oscar & Charlie were off leash yesterday in Ewenton Park in Balmain East (right by the water police). The pups had a normal play and were not seen eating anything, however they did go into the bushes along the front of the houses which sit right on the edge of the park so it may have been there that Charlie picked something up.

They then had a walk in Glebe off leash, again they were not seen to be eating anything in the park (I'm not sure of exactly where this park is but will find out). After these morning walks very quickly Charlie started to shake just a little, it progressed into him being quite ill and vomiting. At the vet in Balmain he was treated for viral infection as his vital signs did not seem to be showing that it was poison. While at the vet Charlie unfortunately got more and more progressively sick within minutes so they kept him there for observation.

Terri then got the call to come and pick him up and take him to the hospital as it was getting very serious and he was turning blue. Poor Charlie died in the car after just 5 minutes from leaving the vet. At the hospital and at the vet both concluded that it was a most probable poisoning. It is unclear whether it was a deliberate poisoning or just an unfortunate accident (berries, snail bait in a garden etc).

The vets did all they could given that his vital signs were originally not showing the symptoms of poisoning.

Charlie was a rescue pup (around 8 months old) who was having his first week of adoption trial with Terri and her family. It was already decided that he was a keeper and as you can imagine it was a very scary, shocking and sad experience for Terri, Dan & Oscar, who were all so happy to have Charlie join their family.

If I hear of any more relevant info I will of course pass it on, if you know of any suspected poisonings please encourage the owners to report to the council and police as the more awareness the better chance we have of stopping this.

Cheers
Calley

Update Tuesday, 8th March  There was a rumour that Charlie might have died from tick poisoning. That's been put to rest. The vets have confirmed that it is NOT the case.

Thanks to an email I received this morning from Calley, I now also know that Charlie may have been a puppy, but he was NOT a littledog. This worries me even more. What is so toxic, that a bigdog could have ingested and died from it that quickly?

We may never know since, to my knowledge, there was no autopsy done.

Regarding last year's deliberate baiting, GillMollyScotty called the police and was told there were no charges laid on the man who was apprehended because the evidence was inconclusive.

I could say a lot of things about the outcome of that incident, and the lack of information and updates from the authorities who were investigating it, but I won't because I'd like to keep this blog expletive-free.

Update Thursday 10th March  A new worrying email from Calley. There has been bait found in Jubilee Park, Glebe. This may or may not mean that Ewenton in Balmain is clear of something toxic. If you remember, Charlie walked in both Ewenton and Glebe the day he died.

Hi Everyone,

I'm hoping that this is that last email update on potential poisonings.

I've just received a text from Pickles's mum saying that while she was down at Jubilee Park in Glebe today the park rangers came up and warned her that there had been baits of snail bait in steak found in the park.

I don't know any more info other than that, but I wanted to again warn you all as I know some of you visit that park on weekends etc.

Also I got an email this morning from the owner of Jendi (another balmain dog) that when Jendi was a pup she ate some snail bait in what sounds like the same area in the same park as where poor Charlie visited last Saturday.

This may be unrelated to Charlie's situation as he died within 1.5 hours and was a very large puppy, but all info is good to have on hand when visiting the park.

Cheers
Calley



Once again, THANK YOU DogWalker Extraordinaire Calley! I wouldn't be able to share this information without your generosity and super-sleuthing! :) xox