Dog dies after eating '˜poison' in Rye park

Marilyn Hanson-Alves, of Military Road, Rye, said Jake, her five-year-old Rottweiler, became ill just hours after he injested what she believes may have been rat poison.

Jake was enjoying his regular walk in The Salts in Rye on Monday (March 6) when the incident unfolded later that day.

Marilyn is now appealing for other dog walkers to be on their guard as she believes the substance Jake ate was deliberately left in the park.

She said: “I had finished work on Monday, came home and decided to take Jake for his walk in the park.

“He was as happy as ever, bouncing about and liked to sniff around for things.

“A couple of hours after we got back from the park, Jake became really ill. The vet reckons what he ate was very toxic. Jake was a Rottweiler and weighed 41kg but this floored him and he didn’t have a hope in hell.

“If we had known what poison it was the vets may have been able to treat Jake. They did all the tests on him but all they knew was that the poison was really powerful.

“I had Jake for five years. He was a rescue dog and the most beautiful one ever. He would enjoy going into the shops in Rye and everyone he met liked him. He was a gentle giant.

“We think it may have been some sort of rat poison he ate but we didn’t see him pick it up in the park.”

Marilyn added that she had heard dogs in neighbouring Kent had been deliberately poisoned by substances left in parks and other public places. She said: “I never dreamt someone would do this over here. There are some sick creatures out there. Who would leave poison in a park?”

A Sussex Police spokeswoman said: “A woman informed us that her dog had become ill after it was walked around the edge of the football pitch in The Salts, Rye, on Monday. It was taken to the vets where it later died. The vet said the dog had ingested a toxin.

“Police have informed the Environment Agency about the incident.”

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