Etobicoke Humane Society volunteers and worried dog owners are converging on a neighbourhood park today after three dogs often walked there have died and two more have fallen ill in a suspected series of poisonings.
An 11-year-old German shepherd-husky mix is the latest in the series dog deaths.
The society's members plan to answer residents' questions and share information on how to recognize a pet that has been poisoned, president William Blain told the Toronto Star.
"The main thing is nervous, heavy panting and salivating," he said. "Rat poison is an anti-coagulant, which means the rat bleeds to death internally, which I imagine is quite painful."
Five dogs from the same southwest Toronto neighbourhood of Alderwood came down with identical symptoms in the past five weeks. Three have now died. They were all commonly walked in Delma Park, south of the QEW and west of Brown's Line.
The most recent, the German Shepherd-husky, seemed to have been responding well to treatment but died suddenly on Friday.
Veterinarian Dainius Verbickas of Pet Vet Lakeshore Hospital told the Canadian Press the deaths appeared to be caused by rat poisoning. He found "severe bleeding and some greenish pellets" inside the digestive tract of the first dog to pass away, a shepherd-retriever named Cosmo. Verbickas has handled all five poisoning cases.
Although no poison or evidence of deliberate poisoning has been found yet, officials are trying to find out what is harming the dogs.
City Animal Services manager Eletta Purdy says people walking their dogs should try to ensure their animals stay away from substances that could be harmful. She told CP that a piece of meat found on the sidewalk in the neighbourhood has also been sent to the lab for testing.
The case is not the first where dogs have been poisoned in a Toronto park. Four years ago, 16 dogs fell ill and one eventually died after hot-dogs laced with insecticide were found in an east end park. The perpetrator was not caught.
With files from the Canadian Press
