Caution to ALL dog walkers

[Dreamer]

I`m so sorry for your loss and thank-you for the warning we will be looking out now when taking Poppy for a walk.

[felipe]

I have removed all posts referring to the question about poor Harvey being a rescue dog. It is totally irrelevant. Why members cannot keep a thread on track is beyond me. Especially one as important as this to all dog walkers.

[Chilliport]

I am not a dog person. I'm a cat person. But I'm absolutely horrified and so upset at the exchanges here. How awful for Steve and his lovely pet. Cats are also at risk here so thank you so much for posting. I would shoot the "hunters" myself if I could. What gives them the right to shoot the rabbits and anything else that moves.

[sandralos]

Stilll feel for you Steve, so sad.  :c002:

[steveconway24]

Dinodog
The reason I mentioned that Harvey was a rescue dog, is that I didn't get him from a pup.
I have always had dogs from pups, so have concentrated on training commands, like "Drop" for instance.
My GSD's will drop whatever is in their mouth on command.
As much as I could, I trained Harvey, and he was pretty good, but rescue dogs can tend to be food aggressive and not mad keen on dropping a juicy bit of meat fat, especially after the dog has had a hard start in life.

The other reason, I felt like I was helping Harvey, giving him a better life.
Then somebody put poison down and killed him.

[raysun]

Its bad enough to have lost a loved pet without some smartasses picking over their choice of description of the dog.
Nice one guys.
Very sympathetic.
And im sorry for your loss steve.

[nibbler]

Probably because most of them are, What does it matter why they say they're rescued, All of mine are.
Nibbler

[Dinodog]

That's a shocking story and so wicked of the poisoner. So very sad for your loss , if I lost my boy I would be devastated after 12 years of love . Thank you for raising the issue , hope you get another doggy to give your love to very soon .

[steveconway24]

Thank you all, and yes Geoff, the more people that see this, hopefully more dogs will be saved.
Thanks Phil for moving it.

[Geoff_Wilkinson]

Steve,
Please accept my sympathy for your loss. May I suggest that you re-post this extremely important warning under "General Chatter" - postings there are over 200 thousand whereas here there are less than 200.
Too many people walking their dogs around here seem indifferent to the danger or maybe they only scan the first few headings on the Forum !
Geoff

[zilnor]

I am so sorry to hear your sad news. I know exactly how you feel because it happened to me. Our little Westie was poisoned in a similar way to your dog and also died a few days later. We involved Seprona who found around 18 more dead dogs in and around the rambla between Cerro Gordo and Partaloa, mostly strays. Our dog had the benefit of pain relief and sedation, unlike the rest who would have had a painful death. This was in 2008.

We signed a statement for Seprona but they said without direct evidence or witnesses, there was little they could do except withdraw hunting licences from the landowners on whose property the dogs were found. Don't think that would deter the hunters ! Laying poison  was made illegal in Spain in 1983 !

SEPRONA and the local police we spoke to were angry. They said  " the ramblas are for everyone, not just the hunters'.

Your advice is excellent. Be careful out there.

[The Gardener]

So sorry to hear about the cruel loss of your dog but a big thank-you for the very comprehensive advice.

[steveconway24]

As it is coming to the end of the hunting season, please be extra vigilant when walking your dogs in the "campo"
Unfortunately, a rescue dog of mine, whilst walking on a lead, picked something up and before my wife had chance to get it out of his mouth he'd swallowed it.
Within 10 mins, he'd started foaming at the mouth, diarrhea and his muscles started spasms. Yes, he'd swallowed poison. I got the car and phoned Juan the vet who was waiting for me outside the vets in Albox out of hours on a Friday. Juan tried everything but unfortunately, it was too much for a small (10kgs) dog and he died on the Monday morning.
In his vomit, there was small cubes of meat fat, this is what contained the poison. (Small enough for even a muzzled dog to pick up)

I contacted serprona and went with them to where it happened. As we found another chunk of meat, they called out their sniffer dogs the next day and searched the area. More poison was found so Seprona also called in "medio ambiente", the environment agency.
All samples collected, including the sample from the vets have been sent to a lab in Malaga for analysis.  Within 4 weeks the police should have the type, brand, where its sold and possibly to who, so they can carry on their investigation.

I never understood why hunters would want to put poison down. This is what Seprona have explained to me.

As it is now closed season for hunting, the hunters will put down poison in an attempt to kill foxes. They want the foxes dead so they don't eat the rabbits and partridge/grouse chicks, so there are more for them to shoot come mid August when the season starts again.
It is 100% ILLEGAL, whether on public or private land.
Seprona take this very seriously.

The land where the poison was found, regardless whether they manage to convict any one or not has now had its hunting rights removed, min 1 year but probably for 5 years. The area is in Cobdar 4km's up the "rambla pauli" form Albanchez.
But this could be happening EVERYWHERE.

SO PLEASE!
Be extremely careful over the next few months with your dogs, especially if you walk them in known hunting areas.

Any suspect poison report it to Seprona, contact Albox guardia 950 43 00 29 and ask for Seprona.

Do NOT touch it, it is harmful to adults and lethal to children., even the saliva coming from your dog is dangerous.