Saturday, May 12, 2007

Somebody tried to kill her

I don't usually use this blog for ranting - I figure there's enough of that around. A radio personality here has a segment once a week called "The Brighter Side of Life" and that's the angle I like to take whenever possible.

That said, the time has come. Yesterday morning I took the dogs out, in our own, fenced backyard, about 9 a.m. I noticed Dax chewing on something blue and went over to investigate. My worst nightmare come to life - it was a block of rat poison. A squirrel had probably carried it into our yard.

I swept out her mouth, ran inside, put the stuff in a sandwich bag, pulled on some shoes, grabbed her and ran to the vet. She spent a miserable day there, having her stomach emptied and treated with charcoal and Vitamin K. She's in jeopardy for a while - Vitamin K every day and keeping a close watch on her. That's her, looking miserable, in a puppy playpen here at work.

Now for the ranting. I called our village Animal Control department to find out if they were doing any baiting for rodents in my neighborhood. Our village is usually terrific and responsible. As they were in this case, too.

In the afternoon, when I was heading out for some errands before going back to the animal hospital to pick Dax up, I saw the Animal Control truck on the street. I circled back to the alley behind our house and found the officer, Lori, checking things out. The village wasn't doing any baiting anywhere near us. And it's illegal in our town to use any lethal means where children, pets and wildlife have access.

She checked out my yard with me, then started looking around the alley. And there she found two more blocks of the stuff, sitting right out in the open, slightly gnawed. You could almost see the steam coming out of her ears. She said she'd go door-to-door, trying to find out who'd done it. And why.

Here's where the ranting comes in. A neighbor across the alley admitted they'd set out the poison. They had a chipmunk burrow in their yard and just went to the hardware store, bought the most lethal "super rodenticide" they could find, and put it out. They had no idea their actions were illegal. They should have known it was incredibly stupid. Lori tells me they're horrified they poisoned my dog. So they should be. Stupid, stupid people. Common sense should have told them not to put poison in the open. Unfortunately, common sense isn't.


11 comments:

Anonymous said...

How awful for you. Hope Dax is ok. You really wonder how people this stupid continue to have enough intelligence to survive.

Kahshe Cottager said...

This is just awful! I hope Dax is feeling much better now! I am so glad that you noticed what Dax was chewing on - I hate to think of what might have happened had you not been there! What a really stupid, stupid thing for anyone to do. I hope that there are consequences for them.

Anonymous said...

Oh my, how terrifying. I hope everyone is okay. I hate rat poison, the stuff is evil and I'll never use it, and tell everyone not to use it.

Uncivil said...

Oh my Gosh. I can feel my eyes watering up and my blood boiling at the same time.
Thank goodness you went into the yard with Dax at the same time he found that block!
I like to go out into the yard with mine when I let them out. Basically, because I like to visually see their stools, so I will notice if they are having any internal problems that I might not be aware off.
You are a much nicer person than I am. The neighbors would probably have to file a restraining order, and a criminal/civil suit against me, after they got back from the hospital!
I swear.......people should have to pass some sort of exam before they can reproduce. Stupid people are reproducing at an alarming rate!
Also........a dog or a cat could get poisoned by eating the dead carcass of the poisoned chipmunk or what ever rodent ate the poison block! I guess they didn't think about that either?
Hell.....I was born to rant....sorry about ranting so long here!

I'm just so glad Dax and the rest of your pack are OK!

Heidi said...

Poor puppy! Good thing you caught it in time!!

I'm sure he's enjoying the pampering now though. :)

robkroese said...

That's just messed up. I've declared war on the gophers around my place, but I use only conventional weaponry. Poison is cheating.

Ms. Mamma said...

Assholes. Your poor baby. We'll keep our paws crossed for a speedy recovery.

Hope said...

Thank you all, so much, for your comments and visits. You're absolutely right! The poisoner is a cheating, idiotic, unthinking person. I'm told she's horrified now that she realizes what she's done. "Overkill" doesn't even begin to cover it! (Pardon the pun. It was too easy and I shouldn't have done it - but if we don't laugh....)

Maya's Granny said...

Back in the late 1890s my great-grandfather was a farmer and had barn cats to keep the vermin down. A neighbor asked to borrow his cats to deal with his rats. Two days later, when the cats hadn't come home, my great-grandfather went to see why and found 27 dead cats along the road, having eaten poisoned rats and died trying to get home. When he told me the story, in the mid 1950s, the tears still came to his eyes.

People have known about the dangers of poisoning rats for a long time.

Hope said...

I guess that stupidity has no limits - either in time or space. What a sad memory for you.

Johann The Dog said...

That's horrible. People never cease to surprise and horrify me. I really hope Dax is going to be OK.

Love your blog!