The Pet Tree House - Where Pets Are Family Too : Poison The Pet Tree House - Where Pets Are Family Too : Poison
Showing posts with label Poison. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Poison. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Lioness Made Famous in BBC’s Long-Running Big Cat Diary Documentary Series Has Been Poisoned


Members of Kenya’s Marsh lion pride, made famous in BBC’s long-running Big Cat Diary documentary series, have reportedly been poisoned after eating a cow carcass in the Masai Mara Reserve.

So far, two lions have died—a lioness named Bibi and an unidentified lion, which was found in the field dead, fed on by scavengers. Another female named Sienna has been missing since Governor’s Camp manager Patrick Reynolds discovered the animals acting strange Sunday morning.

On Tuesday, the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust posted on its Facebook page that an autopsy of Bibi found that traces of an insecticide had been used to poison the pride. The wildlife trust’s mobile veterinary unit is treating five other lions in the pride with antidotes for the poison, and reported that six white vultures were found dead near the location of the poisoned cow carcass.

The rest of the 13-member lion pride has been accounted for and remains under 24-hour watch by veterinarians and park rangers, according to Paula Kahumbu of the conservation group Wildlife Direct.
  
While it remains unclear who is responsible for the attacks, cattle herders who allow their cows to graze on grasses in the Masai Mara reserve are suspects. Lions can prey on the cows the herders bring on the land, and conflicts are becoming more frequent. A 2009 study in the Journal of Zoology found that illegal cattle grazing on protected land in Kenya’s Mara region has increased more than 1,100 percent since 1970.

On Tuesday, Kenyan Wildlife Service officials charged two men with poisoning the lions. If convicted, the men could face up to $200,000 in fines or life in jail.

“Kenya has never before charged a person with poisoning wildlife even though it is a frequent crime that is devastating populations of vultures lions and other predators,” Kahumbu said in a statement. “This is sending a shock wave of fear through the criminal networks.”

Conservationist and certified wildlife veterinarian Hayley Adams said the poisoning of the famous Marsh lion pride will help raise awareness of long-standing conflict issues between humans and Africa’s wildlife that’s been quietly escalating in recent years.

“Pastoralists have been retaliating with spears against lions that predate on their livestock, and now there have been growing instances of poisoning as it becomes easier to access,” said Adams, who has been working in East Africa for more than 20 years. “The problem will most likely get worse before it gets better.”

And when poachers or ranchers use poison, it affects more than just the animal they are targeting, it can affect an ecosystem. Animals not targeted, such as the vultures in this case, can end up dead.

Adams’ foundation works with local communities on health issues and also with wildlife conservation efforts.

“The educational angle we can take is getting the communities to understand that poisoning the animals can end up hurting themselves,” Adams said. “It can get in other species, which hurts ecotourism in the region, and it can get in the water supply.”

One option Masai Mara Reserve officials could look into to reduce lion-cow conflict would be to allow herders to graze cattle in the preserve during daylight hours, and ban cattle grazing at night. That system has been beneficial in Tanzania’s Ngorongoro Conservation Area, south of the Masai Mara, to limit herders’ run-ins with lions.

“The way it is now, herders are bringing their cattle there under cover of night, when lions are more likely to hunt, because it’s illegal,” Adams said. “It’s a difficult situation, both for the lions, and the communities.”
  
                                                 Bibi with her lion cubs

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Monday, January 19, 2015

How to Recognize Poisoning in Dogs


Dogs cannot use words to tell you they are feeling bad but they often display non-verbal cues that can help owners recognize internal illness such as accidental poisoning. Signs that your dog ingested something toxic range from straightforward clues such as fainting, vomiting, loosing fur, and seizures to subtle signs including lethargy, black stools and heavy panting. If you suspect your dog is suffering from poisoning, thoroughly examine your dog and surrounding environment, then call your veterinarian.


To read more on this story, click here: How to Recognize Poisoning in Dogs FOLLOW US!
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Sunday, October 26, 2014

Eleven Members of Brazilian Family Seriously Ill After Unintentionally Eating World's Most Venomous Fish for Dinner


Eleven members of the same Brazilian family are in a critical condition in hospital after unwittingly cooking up the world's deadliest fish for their supper, it was reported today.

The pufferfish was caught by members of the Souza family while fishing near Duque de Caxias and contained a toxin 1,200 times more lethal than cyanide - a drop of which can kill within 24 hours.

The poison paralyses the muscles while the victim remains fully conscious, eventually dying of asphyxiation when the venom reaches the diaphragm.

To read more on this story, click here: Eleven Members of Brazilian Family Seriously Ill After Unintentionally Eating World's Most Venomous Fish for Dinner

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Thursday, October 9, 2014

Horse Poisoning Alarms Venezuela's Racing Industry


Rio Negro was the rising star of Venezuela's racing season, but now this rail-thin race horse is fighting for his life after being poisoned.

It sounds like a page-turning novel: Venezuelan authorities say a gambling ring poisoned one of the country's most popular race horses ahead of a key derby, nearly killing the animal and shining a light on an underworld where millions of dollars in bets are made under the table.

To read more on this story, click here: Horse Poisoning 









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Friday, March 1, 2013

Samoyed Dog Dies After Competing in Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show - May Have Been Poisoned



The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show that aired earlier this month made headlines by crowning an affenpinscher as Best in Show for the first time ever, is back in the headlines today after the unexpected death of another competitor.

Cruz, a 3-year-old Samoyed who was competing in his first Westminster this year, died Feb. 16 while competing in another dog show in Colorado, just four days after the Westminster competition ended. Both the dog's co-owner, Lynette Blue, and his handler, Robert Chaffin, suspect the dog was poisoned.

"We have gone through all the steps of where he was, what was done, and he was always on a leash," Blue, 67, who has co-owned Cruz since birth and has raised and shown the fluffy, snow-white breed of dogs since the 1960s, told ABC News today. "He was never outside. He was always with the handler."

Cruz, short for his show name, GCH CH Polar Mist Cruz'N T'Party At Zamosky D, was competing at the 18th Annual Rocky Mountain Cluster Dog Show in Denver when he became sick, vomiting blood. Chaffin, his handler of over one year, who was also at the Westminster, took him to an emergency veterinary clinic, where he later died of internal hemorrhaging. The dog was cremated and a necropsy was not performed.

The internal hemorrhaging, along with vomiting blood, could be a symptom of rodenticide, or rat poisoning, according to medical experts.

Blue said the manager of the hotel where the Cruz and Chaffin stayed in New York told her the facility does not use rat poisoning. The dog, who was ranked seventh in the nation among Samoyeds, according to Grand Championship Points issued by the American Kennel Club, was also not walked outside or in any of the city's parks, Blue said, which could have been sprayed with rat poison during his stay in New York.

But according to Dr. Tony Johnson, a clinical assistant professor of emergency medicine at Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine, Cruz's symptoms of internal bleeding and eventual death could also be attributed to natural causes such as cancer.

"Two of the things that will cause bleeding in the abdomen are cancer and rat poisoning and people often attribute it to poisoning as opposed to cancer," he said. "We see a lot of dogs that have bleeding in their abdomen due to cancer so that is a possibility."

Johnson added that it is "not an uncommon scenario" for an animal to not have an autopsy done, "but in the absence of a toxicology or pathology report," as in Cruz's case, "it becomes speculation," he said.

Blue said the only time Cruz was not being watched by Chaffin while in New York was when the dog was "benched" at Westminster, a time when the dogs are required to stay in an assigned area with other owners and breeders.

Cruz's handler, Chaffin, whom Blue says she "absolutely" does not suspect was involved in Cruz's death, is convinced that the dog was poisoned and said there was a four-hour window during which the dog could have been poisoned, but not by a competitor. Instead, Chaffin said he is suspicious of an animal rights activist he encountered at the dog show who "was just scowling at me and telling me how cruel I was."

"All of our competitors in the breed are good people," Chaffin told ABC News. "I don't think it was someone in the dog world. There are lots of crazy people out there."

A representative for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) which has sent people to Westminster in past years, brushed aside Chaffin's suspicion that an "animal rights activist" could have been responsible for Cruz's death.

"The accusation is ludicrous and he hasn't even identified the person as an animal rights activist," Lisa Lange, senior vice president at PETA told ABC News. "It was someone at the dog show who criticized him."

Blue said the show provides dog owners the option to hire security guards during their stay in New York, a sign that "it could be a dangerous situation." The owner was more open, however, to the possibility of other motivations.

"It could be some crazies or some animal rights fanatics," she said. "Or it's always possible he was a top-winning dog, so it's always possible, those things have happened -- that other people in the dog show world try to knock out top competition. ... You just don't know."

Westminster, in a statement issued to ABC News today, said, "We have never, to our knowledge, had an incident at our show where a dog has become ill or was harmed as a result of being poisoned.

"We are ultra cautious to the point where we do not allow dogs to be off lead at any time while at our show," the statement read. "Unfortunately, no autopsy was performed, so there are a lot of unanswered questions. No other animal which attended our show was reported to our show veterinarians with any incident of serious illness. We have been made aware that no rodent poison is used at the Piers and pest control is maintained through trapping."

Cruz, who did not place at Westminster, held the designation of "Grand Champion," a title given to dogs earning a total of 25 points with three major wins at other shows. Cruz had competed in at least 30 other dog shows over the past year, according to Blue.

After Cruz's death, the owner of a fellow competitive dog, not in Cruz's breed, came forward to offer a $2,000 reward for "any information that could lead to the arrest of the person who might of done this to Cruz," calling the possible poisoning a "worst nightmare."

Blue said she filed a complaint with the New York Police Department last week but is still awaiting a follow up call from the agency. A representative for the NYPD told ABC News it can find no record of a complaint filed by Blue.

"People just need to know they need to be aware of where their dogs are," said Blue. "This thing has just left a hole in my heart. It has taken some of the joy and fun out of showing and raising dogs. It's something I'll never get over."



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