A man who was looking after two dogs killed in an “apparent” poisoning in Greenfields on Saturday, has spoken to the Mandurah Mail in an effort to warn dog owners in the area.
Brendan Dunmill said he thought someone had poisoned his sister’s staffy Bella and Irish Wolfhound Marley, because her back gate on Waldron Boulevard had been opened and left ajar on Saturday morning.
“One dog was gone and the ranger had to bring it back home,” he said.
In the hours following, Mr Dunmill said the dogs played “like normal”, but started to act unusual in the afternoon.
“One dog started running around the backyard yelping,” he said.
“We tried to settle him down but he started to have a seizure.
“I took him to the vet and received a call from my son, who said the other one had done the same thing.”
Unfortunately, the dogs had to be put down.
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He said the vet believed the dogs were poisoned with sodium fluoroacetate, known as 1080, that is used to kill introduced species.
Mr Dunmill said two dogs and a cat had been poisoned in the same street, two weeks ago.
“We’re not cremating the dogs yet in case RSPCA want to check the poison type”, he said.
RSPCA spokesman Richard Schoonraad said RSPCA was investigating the case and did not know if the poisoning was intentional.
“We do not know at this stage if it was 1080, or a different poison,” he said.
“We also do not know at this stage if this was accidental poisoning, for example, if a bird has picked up a piece of bait from somewhere and dropped it in a park where dogs have found it, or if these dogs were intentionally targeted.”
If you see anything suspicious report it to the RSPCA Cruelty Hotline on 1300 278 3589, or report it online here: https://www.rspcawa.asn.au/animal-information/cruelty.php.
Carla Hildebrandt
Journalist at the Mandurah Mail
Journalist at the Mandurah Mail
