Seeing a dog die of poison is one of the most traumatic experience for a pet owner
As I sit in the vet’s waiting for my appointment to have my dogs vaccinated, a frantic man bursts through the door with a little mongrel.
There was foam coming out of the little dog’s mouth and he looks terrified.
So used to dealing with these situations, the vet and his assistant get straight down to business: first they make him vomit and then they put him on a drip. The assistant has to keep a vigil to ensure he doesn’t pass out or choke while being sick.
“He’s one of the lucky ones,” my vet informs me, explaining that as it had been raining the poison had been diluted, wasn’t as potent and therefore the dog had more chances of surviving.
Dr Athos Zopiros is used to dealing with such incidents. The worst was a New Year’s Day a few years ago when he was called to deal with seven dog poisonings all in the same neighbourhood. Only one survived.
What is so worrying about these crimes – punishable with up to a year in jail and/or €1,700 fine but almost impossible to prove – is that in most cases, the poison is thrown in people’s back yards.
In the specific mass poisoning on New Year’s Day 2007, a pet owner came to realise there were poison-laced meatballs in his garden, where his three-year-old daughter played.
Just over a week ago, a Cyprus Mail reader raised the alarm when her 12-year-old dog ate poisoned meat that had been placed in a bin outside the Faneromeni Primary School.
“Imagine if a small child found it instead?” the reader pointed out. “A child wouldn’t know what it was. Do we have to witness the death of a human before something is done about this?”
The Animal Welfare Department insists its hands are tied and refers to the Law for Dogs, which provides a hefty fine and imprisonment for people who lay down poison.
But as an official at the department admitted, there hasn’t been one arrest since the law was passed. And that’s because it is virtually impossible to catch the criminal red-handed.
The Head of the Municipal Health Services, Philippos Petsas, was concerned to hear poison had been placed in such close proximity to small children.
“This is a very serious problem and I will send an officer to the area to investigate the case, speak to shop owners and residents in the area to see if there are any problems,” he promised. “We will warn them that this is dangerously serious for children’s safety.”
Petsas, who himself has lost a dog to poisoning, added: “If we secure any witness reports, rest assured that the culprits will be prosecuted.”
The ready availability of pesticides is a vast contributor to the problem, though as an Agriculture Ministry official pointed out, it is the bad use of the product that is to blame.
“Just because someone can use a knife to stab and murder someone, does this mean we have to withdraw all knives from the market?”
So what can be done?
As with all cases, there are two sides to the story.
As one Cyprus Mail reader pointed out, there appear to be no real solutions for those who are suffering from a boisterous neighbourhood dog. “My next door neighbour has a dog, which constantly barks, awaking me at 6am every day – including weekends,” he said.
“On top of that, its owner allows it to wander the streets freely in the mornings and evenings, which often results in it soiling my front yard.
“I have often thought of putting poison down, and believe me, if I was any less sensitive, I would have done so by now. This situation is taking over my life”.
He, and people in similar situations, are faced with a lack of alternatives. “If I could call the police and tell them to come and speak to the dog’s owner and warn him it is illegal to have his dog roaming unsupervised, then I would do that. I’m at my wits’ end.”
Of course, not all pet owners are as irresponsible and there are people, sad as it sounds, that get some sort of kick out laying harming animals.
But have they ever stopped to think what they are doing to the pet owners?
“It is so sad to see owners, who have had their dogs for years, watch them die in front of them,” Zopiros’ veterinary assistant Elena Christou said. “And then they have to go home and tell their children. It’s inhumane.”
Possibly the saddest moment of all, said Christou, is when the owners come in to collect their dog’s collar and lead.
What’s worse for the owners, the dog does not die straight away. “It suffers. It gets to the point where it can’t even recognise its owner.”
BOX What to do if your pet is poisoned
l Call the vet immediately
l Have a bottle of salt water on you and try to get the dog to drink this and vomit. This buys you valuable time
l You can get an injection from the vets to carry with you in case your dog is poisoned, but this is very difficult to administer if you are inexperienced and your dog is in distress
l Try spraying your back yard with water to dilute any poison that might have been laid
