Several Dogs Poisoned In East Texas Neighborhood

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KLTV 7 Tyler-Longview-Jacksonville, TX

Several dogs in an East Texas neighborhood are dead after being poisoned. In the past two weeks, an East Texas veterinary hospital has been forced to put three dogs to sleep.

Lucy, a Terrier cross mix, is just four years old. This morning, her owners spent their final minutes with her.

"She's just a sweet, sweet dog," said Daniel Moody, Lucy's owner. A few days ago, Moody noticed Lucy had trouble getting around and was vomiting.

"What folks need to know about anti-freeze is, if there is any kind of question, if you see your dog vomiting, if it's staggering anything abnormal, not eating, you need to call your veterinarian," said Dr. Gary Spence, Spence and White Veterinary Hospital. That's because doctors have just four hours to get the poison out of the dog. After that, doctors say the poison takes over.

"It takes three days to die, and it's a horrible death," said Dr. Spence. "They will have 24 hours worth of seizures and finally they will seize enough to where their heart stops and they are dead." Lucy's owners don't understand why anyone would poison their dog.

"She didn't bark at people, or cars," said Moody. "She didn't mess with kids. She was not a nuisance. Don't poison the animals. That's just not right."

"If the pets are a problem in your area, contact law enforcement," said Dr. Spence. "Inform them and let them take care of it." It's advice, veterinarians hope whoever is poisoning the animals will take, before another family loses their beloved pet.

Doctors had to put Lucy to sleep this morning. Doctors ask people to watch their property for unusual pans or raw meat that may have been thrown in their yard. Doctors say it only takes a small amount of anti-freeze to kill a dog.