Family dogs poisoned during botched motorcycle theft
“I rushed outside and tried to see what was wrong,” said Mr Sweeney. “I was holding him in my arms when he died.”
One dog has died and another had to be treated after they ate poisoned sausages.
The incident occurred at approximately 4am on Friday morning at a residence in Barry Hertzog Park.
According to the dogs’ owner, Johan Sweeney, both dogs had been barking on and off the entire night. “I heard the dogs barking once or twice and went outside to calm them down,” he said.
According to Mr Sweeney, the residents inside the house had heard a motorcycle idling on the road outside the home in the early hours of the morning.
It was shortly thereafter that one of the women inside the house heard the one dog, a black Labrador, choking. “I rushed outside and tried to see what was wrong,” said Mr Sweeney. “I was holding him in my arms when he died.”
They proceeded to treat their second dog, a Husky, with the tools available to them, charcoal and milk. The dog vomited, and seems not to have ingested any poison.
The evidence of this vile act was lying on the ground mere metres away from where Mr Sweeney parks his motorcycle at night.
“We found a russian stuffed with black pellets,” he said. “I immediately knew it was poison.”
The circumstances of the incident allude to a botched motorcycle theft, as the bike in the yard fits the profile of other motorcycles stolen in Newcastle in recent months.
It would appear thieves are targeting small 125 to 250 models, which are small and easy to transport. So far, unconfirmed reports suggest more than 40 bikes have been stolen since January.
The poison used is more commonly known as ‘two-step’, a substance readily available and commonly used as rat poison.
“They call it two-step because the animal would take two steps and then die,” said a local veterinarian. “The symptoms usually include vomiting and convulsions. Some dogs would vomit out enough of the poison to survive, while others die within ten minutes.”
Mr Sweeney covered his beloved Labrador in a blanket before he was taken away.
“I just couldn’t bare the thought of burying him,” he said. “He was family you know, like a child to me. I just don’t understand. Take the bike, but leave the dogs alone.”
Residents are urged to report any and all incidents of poisoning to the police. Although chances are slim of the actual perpetrators being brought to book, it is important for police records, and to increase patrols in areas where cases become more prevalent.
