Saskatoon on alert after 5 dogs killed
CALGARY - Five dogs have died in Saskatoon during the past week after eating poisoned food left in city parks, the third such incident in the past four years.
FROM FEB. 3, 2004: Children, dogs sick after Toronto park visit
Champ lies in the intensive care unit of Saskatoon's veterinary hospital with his owners at his side.
Each of the animals suffered strychnine poisoning after eating wieners or sausages filled with rat poison.
Seven poisoning cases have been confirmed since last Thursday, all in or near the city's Grosvenor Park. Along with the five animals that died, two others are still alive after eating the tainted food.
Kevin Sutton said his two dogs, Luca and Champ, were nosing around a bush in the park when a nearby child told him the dogs were eating a hot dog. Thinking nothing of it, Sutton left the park and ran a few errands before going home.
"I stopped at a grocery store for five to-10 minutes, and I came back and Luca was dead in the van," said Sutton.
Within hours, Champ was sick as well, and remains in the intensive care unit of Saskatoon's veterinary hospital.
Saskatoon veterinarian Stanley Rubin said it's a clear act of malice towards people and animals.
"People can only feel very lucky we haven't had any children poisoned, because it can be just as lethal in a person as in a dog," said Rubin. "Young children... will often scoop something up off the ground and put it in their mouth."
Early treatment is the only hope for an animal or person who ingests the poison, he said.
Strychnine is usually used to control rats. It attacks the blood system, causing convulsions and then death.
The city's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which is investigating the incidents, is warning people to keep their dogs on a leash and under a close watch while walking them in public areas.
This is the not the first time dogs have died of strychnine poisoning in Saskatoon.
Two dogs died after eating strychnine-laced meat two months ago in Saskatoon's Eastview neighbourhood, while in September 2000, two dogs were fatally poisoned when they ate wieners tainted with strychnine.
Earlier this year, one dog died and 15 dogs became ill after visits to a Toronto park where their owners could let them off their leashes. Police believe a pesticide was deliberately inserted into hotdogs left on the grounds of Withrow Park.
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They're usually really good about not eating things off the ground but you never know. My dad was watching the news yesterday and I came in the livingroom just in time to see that. There was a guy with a golden retriever that died because of meat poisoning.
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