A Wycliffe family is urging the public not to use rodenticides after their four-year-old Husky-mix, Nala, had to be put down this past weekend.
Amanda Corrigan and her family live out in Wycliffe on a fenced-in property. Corrigan says she had to put Nala down on Saturday with vets confirming the dog had ingested rodenticide.
“I’m begging people not to use rodenticide,” Corrigan said. “People don’t realize that once an animal has been poisoned, it can take 48 hours for them to die.”
Corrigan says that Nala started acting funny on Friday morning (Feb. 18). Corrigan monitored Nala throughout the day but by the time evening fell she was vomiting up a faint pink-coloured liquid.
“The vet clinics were closed so we took her in first thing on Saturday morning,” Corrigan explained. “We got a call that Nala had been poisoned with rodenticide and that she had a two per cent chance of survival, if we took her to a specialist. We had to put her down.”
Corrigan says she is unsure how Nala ingested the poison.
“We live on an acreage and we have eight foot elk fencing around the property, there’s no way she got out,” Corrigan said, adding that the only explanation they can think of is that a poisoned rodent entered their yard. “We don’t know. We walked the entire property when we got home and we found nothing.”
There is currently a temporary, province-wide ban on the sale and use of second-generation rodenticides in B.C.
According to the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, effective July 21, 2021, rodenticides were banned for a total of 18 months.
The ministry states that second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARS) are more powerful than the previous generation of rodenticides and increase the risk of secondary-poisoning of other animals.
There are a few exemptions to the ban including, but not limited to, agricultural production and food safety.
“Agricultural operators may still use SGARs with proof of qualifying agricultural status and while following the integrated pest management principles, including prevention and full consideration of alternatives, with use of pesticides as a last resort when other measures are not effective,” the Ministry said in a release.
In November of 2020, the Townsman reported on an increase in owl deaths from similar secondary poisonings. At the time, advocates were calling for a complete ban on rodenticides.
This is also not the first time that a dog has died due to suspected secondary or first-hand poisoning in the Cranbrook/Kimberley area.
In August of 2020, Steeples Veterinary Clinic cautioned the public about suspected dog poisonings in the Gold Creek trails and Hidden Valley Road area. Results from a toxicology test at that time confirmed that Compound 1080 was found in one dog that died.
In March of 2020, two dogs died and another fell violently ill following a walk in the Wycliffe Butte area, also suspected poisoning.
Corrigan says she is afraid to let her other dog out into their yard now.
“We just want to warn people. We want people to stop using poison. What we witnessed was horrible,” Corrigan said. “[Nala] was an amazing family member.”
READ: Compound 1080 confirmed in dog deaths in Gold Creek area
READ: Reports of two dogs dead, a third extremely ill after walking in Wycliffe Butte
READ: Cranbrook vet, RCMP cautioning public about suspected dog poisonings
corey.bullock@cranbrooktownsman.com
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