14 DAY TRIAL // The owner of a 3-year-old Samoyed believes that her dog has been poisoned to death, four days after the pooch participated in the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on February 16.
Zap 2 It reports that Lynette Blue is convinced that her dog, Cruz's death is no accident. Cruz's entry in the Westminster competition marked his first show ever.
A few days later, he was starring in a competition in Denver, Colorado when he suddenly became ill. The dog was entered in the show as GCH CH Polar Mist Cruz'N T'Party At Zamosky D, adds ABC News.
The disease manifested itself by vomiting blood, and the pooch's death occurred not long after. It has reportedly been caused by internal hemorrhaging, according to an examination at an emergency veterinary clinic.
Cruz was cremated without a necropsy being performed, but, judging by his symptoms, experts dubbed rat poisoning the cause of death.
“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.
“We see a lot of dogs that have bleeding in their abdomen due to cancer so that is a possibility,” notes Dr. Tony Johnson of the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine.
67-year-old Blue describes that the dog was not left on his own, concluding that it has been poisoned by either an owner or handler at the New York show or an animal-rights activist she was approached by.
“We have gone through all the steps of where he was, what was done, and he was always on a leash. [...] He was never outside. He was always with the handler.
“It could be some crazies or some animal rights fanatics. [...] Or it's always possible... that other people in the dog show world try to knock out top competition,” she says.