Third dog dies after walk in Wascana

[bigdoglover]

Leader Post

Heather Polischuk


Another dog has died, possibly after being exposed to some sort of poison while walking in Wascana Centre.

Regina resident Colin Schellenberg said his girlfriend took his two-year-old bulldog Dozer for a walk in the park at noon Monday. By the time she returned with the dog an hour later, Schellenberg noticed Dozer was not looking well.

"He seemed like he was walking like he was drunk," he said. "I (thought), well, it's 31 (degrees) out, he's a fat little dog and he's just tired -- he'll be fine. I went home at quarter after six, 6:30 and he was dead ... I didn't even know what to do. It was a shock."

Schellenberg immediately took his dog to a veterinarian, where the nurses asked if the dog had been outside that day. Schellenberg told them about Dozer's recent walk.

"And then their mouths just all dropped," he said. "They asked, 'Did you know about the poisonings?' And I (said) no. And they said there have been a couple dogs that have died like this."

A total of 165 birds and three dogs, including Dozer, died this month after spending time in Wascana Centre. Late last week, the Wascana Centre Authority confirmed toxicology tests found an agricultural insecticide called carbofuran was responsible for the bird deaths, a chemical the Authority said it does not use.

Wascana Centre Authority executive director Van Isman said Tuesday he does not know whether carbofuran caused the dogs' deaths, nor how the insecticide came to be in the park. He said the recent rainfall has made it difficult for Wascana Centre staff to collect soil samples to find out more about where and how the chemical is situated in the park, since rain dissolves carbofuran.

In the meantime, Isman added he has been in contact with the police just in case it turns out someone is setting the poison out deliberately.

"Am I convinced of that? No, not at all," he said. "What we don't want here is any form of sort of public panic, and that's one of the reasons why we're certainly talking with the police on a regular basis about this."

The Authority had issued a warning to dog owners to insure dogs do not stray off paths or eat anything found on the ground. But Schellenberg said his girlfriend did those things, making sure Dozer was on the leash and on marked paths. She hadn't seen the dog eat anything, he added.

An autopsy is expected to be conducted this week to try and determine what killed Dozer. Schellenberg said he was told it could be a couple weeks before the results are in.

[Giny]

The first thing that popped into mind when reading this is Dozer didn't die of poisoning but of heat stroke. Fact that, (1) He's a short muzzle breed walking in 31 degrees celsius temp (2) It was noon time, the worst time to walk a dog in the summer months (3) He was over weight (4) "He was walking like he was drunk", a classic sign of heat stroke.. Poor dog none the less. I wish I knew the follow up of the necropsy.

[Spiritus]

I'm not far from Regina, and everyone I know is talking about it and not taking their dogs to that specific park. I will try to keep the forum up to date on whether or not poisoning is found to be the cause of death of this dog, and any others I hear of.

[KennelMom]

Originally Posted by Giny

The first thing that popped into mind when reading this is Dozer didn't die of poisoning but of heat stroke. Fact that, (1) He's a short muzzle breed walking in 31 degrees celsius temp (2) It was noon time, the worst time to walk a dog in the summer months (3) He was over weight (4) "He was walking like he was drunk", a classic sign of heat stroke.. Poor dog none the less. I wish I knew the follow up of the necropsy.

That's exactly what I was thinking too.....Poor dog...Hope we can find out the results of the necropsy as well.

[bigdoglover]

Thanx Spiritus....I'll keep watching the articles I post to see if there is an update.

[rmci]

Why aren't there any warning posters set up around the centre?

[Shadowkins]

Regina is just 40 minutes away, ugh! I don't understand why a warning hasn't been broadcast on our local TV stations at least...maybe it was and i missed it. Poor dog to have to die in such a way. I'll keep my eyes and ears open too and warn our clients at the shop...we've had quite a few travellers from all over Canada, so I feel the should be warned.