A dog walker has spoken out after her 17-month-old Belgian Malinois became ill following a walk in the Whitesheet Hill area of Warminster.
Gill Willcox takes part in canicross – the sport of running off-road with your dog – and reported that her dog fell ill following the walk near Stourton to Wiltshire Police at Mere Police Station on Saturday 10 December.
“We went for a walk early on Saurday on Whitesheet Hill near Mere which is a regular walk for us. There was an illegal fly-tip there, and it had been there a few weeks.
“We walked over the downs for about an hour and then went home. Three hours later my partner realised something was wrong and immediately took her to the emergency vets.
“She was showing a strong aversion to light, was sensitive to the touch and twitchy. She was falling over and fitting. The vet immediately suspected poisoning and put her on a drip to flush her out and put her in a dark room.
“During the day she slowly improved but was still wobbly but not fitting so she was sent home. We had a very worrying 24 hours but she slowly got better and by Monday was pretty much over it.
“We caught it early so there was no damage to organs and her bloods were ok. The vet didn’t know what had caused it but it was diagnosed poisoning and reported that another dog had come in with similar symptoms the day before.
“Since then a friend of my employer rang to say their dog had been poisoned as well. As far as I know, all dogs are recovering well.”
Police in Mere have heard that one dog may have died as a result, however, they are currently investigating the incidents and the cause of the illness in dogs.
Wiltshire Police said: “Please be aware that we have had reports of illness in dogs after walking in the Whitesheet area, near to Stourhead. We are investigating some fly tipping which may or may not be the cause.”
