A HEARTBROKEN woman has issued a warning to fellow dog owners after her Labrador cross died after eating poison.

Patricia Franklin says her 11-year-old pet Harley ate slug bait while out in the Core Copse area of East Hill Strips.

She fears the pellets could have been left there on purpose.

Patricia, who lives in Honiton, said: “We hope that what Harley found was an isolated incident of someone discarding garden rubbish without thinking of the consequences, but we know deliberate poisoning has occurred in other areas, by someone incensed by dog mess left on the ground. If this turns out to be the case, then anyone who has ever not picked up after their dog has contributed to the death of our best friend. There is no excuse for not picking up.”

Patricia was unaware Harley had ingested the poison and said his condition took a turn for the worse hours after returning home.

She added: “A couple of hours later he was really panting uncomfortably and was restless, which is sign of heat stroke. I got wet towels to cool him down and thought that’s what was wrong.

“He started getting steadily worse and unsteady on his feet.”

Patricia took him to the vets where she was told he had eaten a large quantity the poison. He was then put under anaesthetic and died on the morning of Thursday, July 17 following the Tuesday afternoon walk.

“It was dreadful. There is nowhere else he could have got it. It is not something we have or our neighbours have,” says Patricia.

However, Patricia told the Herald that she is not aware of any other incidents in the area and said it ‘never occurred’ to her that her dog had eaten poison. She thinks she will probably never know what happened.

Patricia reported the incident to the Forestry Commission, which said in a statement: “Staff were concerned to hear that Mrs Franklin’s dog had died due to suspected poisoning. We spoke to Mrs Franklin to ascertain the route taken through Core Copse in the East Hill Strips, East Devon, a Forestry Commission site.

“Staff confirmed they saw nothing suspicious that a dog might pick up in the woods and that slug pellets or the like are never used by the Forestry Commission in these woods.

“The wood is a popular area for dog walkers and no other incidents of a similar nature have been reported from people dog walking there.”