Rise in suspected dog poisonings in Marlborough shocks worried residents

Friday, 22 March 2019

Blenheim woman Lynette Leota found pills in dog food had been chucked over her fence.

A spate of suspected dog poisonings in Marlborough has sparked community outrage, with residents wondering if dogs are being targeted in a bid to burgle homes.

On Thursday morning, piles of dog food filled with what is believed to be paracetamol was found in the garden of one Blenheim dog owner's property.

That night, a Witherlea home reported a burglary, saying that their dog had been beaten in the process.

This followed a dog who almost died two weeks ago, with the owner suspecting poison had been tossed to the dog over the fence.

* Toxic algae appearing in Marlborough streams**

A police spokeswoman confirmed they received reports of a burglary on Howick Rd in Witherlea around 8:20pm on Thursday night.

'The house was locked and secure,' she said.

Police could not confirm a dog was abused in the process. The suspect stole cash from the home

Police were still investigating, the spokeswoman said.

The tenant did not want to be named but said they found their house had been burgled and their dog was in a very distressed state.

The burglar entered through a locked window and stole over $1000 in cash, he said.

He believed his Staffie Labrador had been beaten in the process and was limping and stressed.

'He didn't have any blood marks on him, but there was a piece of wood next to his kennel which we think was used to hit him,' he said.

On Friday afternoon the dog was still stressed and 'a bit shaky', he said.

Someone left Chewy and Max dog food filled with paracetamol. Both dogs survived.

On Thursday morning, Lakings Rd resident Lynette Leota found balls of dog food, with what she believed to be paracetamol in the garden with her dogs.

'There was a lot of pills, because these pills are toxic for dogs, that's pretty deliberate,' Leota said.

Their dogs ate the food but left the pills. SPCA were conducting tests on the pills, she said.

'There's been a few burglaries where they've gotten the dogs out of the way first.

'But we just don't know.'

They planned to write a letter to neighbours asking for information, she said.

'We're just quite shocked that anyone would do that. It seems quite malicious.'

Chewy, who was half Labrador, half Bullmastiff and Max, half American Bulldog cross, were both very 'friendly' dogs, she said.

Witherlea dog Bass nearly died two weeks ago after a suspected poisoning.

If someone came near the property, the pair barked to alert but were not nuisance barkers, Leota said.

The response from the community had been huge and they had received messages from people echoing similar experiences, she said.

'There seems to be a bit of a pattern there.'

The incident had been reported to police, SPCA and Animal Control.

Blenheim woman Liesha Smith said she believed her labrador mastiff cross was intentionally poisoned about two weeks ago.

Smith's dog Bass survived the ordeal after eating what she suspected was poison thrown over the fence of her Witherlea property.

Smith was faced with $700 in vet bills.

'I was donated $180 from people around the community to go towards it which was amazing,' she said.

Local animal rescue service Marlborough Dog Pawz operator Michelle Madsen said she advised people start putting cameras up on their property.

'It's serious. It's unnerving that's for sure,' Madsen said.