Prized Show Dog Poisoned?

[Dib's]

Owner claims prized show dog may have been poisoned at Westminster dog show

A dog owner says she thinks there's a chance her prized pet was deliberately poisoned while competing at the Westminster Kennel Club show, causing it to die several days later.

"It is in the realm of possibility," Lynette Blue told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Blue co-owns a 3-year-old Samoyed named Cruz, and said he probably swallowed poison at Westminster earlier this month. Four days after competing, the dog died, on Feb. 16, while at a show in Colorado.

Blue has worked since the 1970s with Samoyeds, a sturdy, medium-sized breed. She said that while there was no evidence foul play was involved, certain symptoms were consistent with dogs that ingest rat or mouse poison. That was the reason she said she decided against a necropsy -- an autopsy for animals.

"The timeline adds up. There's no other scenario we can come up with other than poison," she said.

Asked if she thought it was intentional, she said: "I don't think we'll ever know."

The dog's death was first reported by The New York Times.

Cruz's handler, Robert Chaffin, told the Times he thought extreme animal rights activists may have been to blame. Members of some animal groups have criticized shows featuring purebred dogs in the past.

In 2010, two members of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals stood in the middle of the Westminster best-in-show ring at Madison Square Garden and held protest signs.

But PETA co-founder and president Ingrid Newkirk said "it makes no sense whatsoever" that an animal rights activist would harm an animal.

"It's a fantasy, it's a fallacy," she told the AP by phone Thursday night. "How dare you point a finger and cast aspersions when you haven't a clue."

The veterinarian who treated Cruz, Molly Comiskey, told the Times: "Dogs are dogs. It's not anyone's fault. They eat stuff; they get into things; they make bad decisions."

The 137th Westminster drew 2,721 purebred entries. Cruz, one of 33 Samoyeds list in the show, did not win any ribbons in the best of breed judging.

"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," the kennel club said in a statement.

"After conversation with the co-owner of the dog in question, it was established that the dog left Georgia on Monday and flew to New York, he was exhibited at our show on Tuesday, and flew to Denver on Wednesday morning where he subsequently became ill on Saturday. Unfortunately, no autopsy was performed, so there are a lot of unanswered questions," the statement said.



I hope it's not true. I hope.

[Connie Lea]

So sad.

[Dib's]

Here's more.

http://gma.yahoo.com/westminster-dog-show-competitor-poisoned-021241960--abc-news-pets.html

[K9 Owned]

This is perplexing on many levels.
While I am no fan of PETA I cannot fathom how poisoning any animal would further their cause.

For the owner to have arbitrarily decided that the dog must have been poisoned and then deciding that it could have been an activist is a stretch. Is the owner a vet? Does he or she have an advanced degree in medicine or biology?

It was stated that the death could also have been of cancer. As no autopsy (I prefer the term ) was done we will just never know. I am not claiming foul about the owner not having an autopsy done (I never have) but to raise accusations without any proof seems poor. '"scowling at me" does not count imos

It's very sad that the dog died and I think it likely that grief is causing the comment.

[Pot Scrubber]

What K9 said. Sounds like a bunch of hooey to me.

[Debbwl]