A TOWN centre vet who tried to save a dog that was poisoned in Orford on May 9 has warned that poisoning is a significant problem for dog owners.

Linda Owen, the owner of 10-month-old German Shepherd, Marley, was distraught after her beloved pet passed away.

He ate something suspicious while walking on the field known as ‘the English Martyrs’ in Orford and when he started to walk strangely, Linda rushed him to Beech House Vets on Wilderspool Causeway.

Unfortunately they were unable to save Marley and vet Anna Clifford said it is impossible to tell what poisoned him.

She said: “We do see poisonings sporadically, it’s certainly something we think about when animals are brought to us.

“Dogs can show different signs depending on the toxin and it happens more often than we would like.

“Sometimes dogs can pick up rat poison and there are lots of foods that can be toxic to them.

“Chocolate really is quite toxic to dogs and even leads to death if they eat a significant amount. Onions and raisins too – there are lots of foods.”

Anna, who has been a vet for seven years, said that it is most commonly dogs who get poisoned because they tend to eat almost anything but cats can also pick up toxic substances.

“Cats seem to like antifreeze, which is very sweet in taste apparently so they are naturally drawn to it but it only takes a teaspoon to cause damage and potentially death,” said Anna.

“We had one case of a sick cat and the owner had a problem with their car at the time - it was leaking engine coolant which had antifreeze in it and the cat was licking it up off the drive.”

She recommended that anybody who thinks their pet may have been poisoned should take it to the vet straight away.

She said: “There’s often very little we can do to reverse the effects but we can put them on a drip to help flush them out and give them supplements to reduce the amount of poison absorbed. Sometimes if we catch it very quick we can make them vomit it up.”

However police said that there have been no reports of dogs being poisoned in the Orford area and incidents of deliberate animal poisoning are very rare.