A man from Chilliwack, B.C. is warning his neighbours to be careful with their pets after his two-year-old German Shepherd died in an apparent poisoning.
Owner Peter Mitischev found two-year-old Ben bleeding from his mouth on Wednesday. Mitischev rushed him to the vet, but by then it was too late.
"He was just lying there motionless... It was just horrible," said Mitischev.
"The vet said the dog wasn’t doing good and at this time, all the signs pointed to poisoning with all the blood coming out of the dog and the colour of the gums."
Mitischev later found some rawhide sticks by his back fence and suspects they were poisoned, but he doesn’t know why.
"We don’t have any rawhide in our family. We don’t give our dogs treats like that," he said.
"Hopefully we can find out who put these there, what these are all about, what’s in them. What’s on them. Who knows? Hopefully we can find some answers."
Mitischev contacted the police and the B.C. SPCA but they haven’t told him if the rawhide will be tested.
Despite the uncertainty, veterinary assistant Amanda Marshall said her office has noticed a trend.
"We’ve seen a lot more toxicity problems, definitely in the last couple of months, but nothing that has hit an animal that fast," said Marshall.
"Ben's mouth was black and he had blood in his mouth, too. He went downhill really fast. Really fast."
Mitischev is grateful their other dog Belle is ok. Still, Mitischev says, she’s been whining in the night and behaving timidly, and must miss Ben as much as they do.