Dog Poisoned at Campground

[Pudentane]

A friend of mine was at a campground in Southern California this weekend and her dog got into poison that the campground put out for gophers. Fortunately she was near a good medical facility and it appears that her dog will recover - after several thousand dollars worth of care. I cannot give any further details except to say that the dog was on a leash the whole time she was there. I thought that I would post this so that those of you who have pets (and children) would be aware and be vigilant.

[Frank's Trailer Works]

I think an important detail would be how a leashed dog ate poison. The entire point of a leash is to keep your dog under control. Having the end of the leash in your hand is an important part of being on a leash. As a dog owner I understand the difficulties of keeping a dog away from things they are not supposed to eat.

[toddster]

That campground would be picking up my vet bill (at a minimum). Pretty careless IMHO.

[Pudentane]

I don't know how the dog got the poison - but the campground personell showed her the container of poison they use - and it doesn't take much of some kinds to be lethal. Fortuantely it's a big dog and that may have been a factor in it's survival. Obviously this is not the end of the story and as I expect my friend will be deciding on what course of action to take I don't want to post anything that might interfere in any way with her options and resolution.

[toddster]

Thanks for the posting. I regularly camp with my boxers and hadn't given much thought to the risk of poisoning, especially since they're always on leash. I hope all works out for the pooch in question.

[Mike Leary]

Originally Posted by Pudentane

A friend of mine was at a campground in Southern California this weekend and her dog got into poison that the campground put out for gophers. Fortunately she was near a good medical facility and it appears that her dog will recover - after several thousand dollars worth of care. I cannot give any further details except to say that the dog was on a leash the whole time she was there. I thought that I would post this so that those of you who have pets (and children) would be aware and be vigilant.

That sucks, if you're worried about posting, I'd appreciate a PM as to where the camp is.

[Dakota's Dad]

Originally Posted by toddster

That campground would be picking up my vet bill (at a minimum). Pretty careless IMHO.

Guess I swing the other way... Pretty careless of the owner to let their leashed dog eat something on the ground, the whole point of keeping them on a leash is control of their actions.

and trust me, we own the blondest golden retriever to ever sniff the same skunk twice...

( <---not the big handsome fella in the picture)

now it would be a good thing to point out to the campground owners that if they are a pet friendly campground, they should put their gopher poison in a pet proof device.

[Stefrobrts]

My dogs have a 'swallow first, ask questions later' policy. I would hate to have to pay for a moment of inattention with my dogs life. Or a child's life for that matter. I would expect campgrounds to not have poison bait laying around unprotected.

[Mike Leary]

Originally Posted by Stefrobrts

My dogs have a 'swallow first, ask questions later' policy. I would hate to have to pay for a moment of inattention with my dogs life. Or a child's life for that matter. I would expect campgrounds to not have poison bait laying around unprotected.

My point exactly; well said.

[COArgosy78]

Well, hard to know where to sling the mud and in what percentages w/just this post

Owners of dogs should definitely be the alpha dog and make sure of what comes in contact w/their animal. After all, a dog doesn't care, it will eat vomit!! No discrimination there - which is part of the overall appeal of loving one.

The campground owners are just asking for it if they are leaving out poison in an accessible area. We had a neighbor put mothballs out in his front yard because he didn't like the dogs pooping in it -ahhh, did he think about the little kids seeing those and thinking they were good to eat!!!??? Not until it was pointed out It's just hard to know how some people think...

I hope it gets resolved in a good way before worse happens. Glad the poor dog was alright

[whitelight]

PHP Code:

My dogs have a 'swallow first, ask questions later' policy. 


How true! One of our former standard poodles had the fastest mouth in the west - my elderly dad tossed a peach pit towards the garbage, it missed the can, & before it could hit the floor, it was down our poodle's throat. Several hundred dollars later (peach pits can be poisonous) of xrays & induced vomiting, no peach pit although the dog hacked up the pit two days later (in the middle of the night).

Many people are not aware of how dangerous chemicals and poisons can be, especially when used deployed at ground level. Many of the animal cancers are attributed to pesticides, herbicides, fire retardant in carpeting - the list goes on. Anything applied at ground level impacts our pets as well as small children.

RV'ing friends had to take a side trip without their rig. They travel with their mini schnauzer. They managed to find a hotel that would take their pet, at an additional cost of $25 per night. It wound up costing them a lot more, as the cleaner/disinfectant the hotel used on the carpeting precipitated a severe allergic reaction in their dog. They wound up making a 4 am visit to an emergency vet. So, these kind of incidents with pets & chemicals are not limited to the out-of-doors.

[funkill]

I purchased a dog run/play crate to place my pups in while I'm at the site (vs tie-outs). Guess I better check the ground well in the future. Thanks for the info and hope the dog is okay.

Laura

[Mackhopp]

Speaking from the perspective of an owner of a lab mix who puts anything and everything in her mouth....

Regardless if the dog was on a leash or not, the campground ought not to have put poisoned bait lying around - or if they did - they should have notified campers upon check-in as well as posting signs.

After all - last time I checked, gophers don't read...

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by Mike Leary

That sucks, if you're worried about posting, I'd appreciate a PM as to where the camp is.

We live in Southern California, I'd definitely appreciate a PM as well.

Originally Posted by Macfrodge

After all - last time I checked, gophers don't read...

You never watched "Caddyshack"?


Seriously, I hope the dog makes a full recovery. After that, your friend can take a deep breath, and decide how to proceed.

[carlvs]

I bet you that bait smells great for the gopher, and our dogs also can smell it a mile away. I think that it is very easy for a dog to snatch food (or poison) from the ground when on a controlled on-leash walk.

We will be heading to SoCal next year too. Can you PM the campground info, so that we can at least be alert if we decide to stay there.

Thx
Carl & Caroline

[Foiled Again]

I agree, most dogs will eat anything that they can get - and they can get to it fast. In our campground, far too many owners have those roll-up leashes that allow a dog to run for 30 feet or more, and they just stroll around while the dog pretty much goes where it wants to. That kind of leash IMHO is pretty much equivalent to just letting the dog run loose.

Regardless - leaving poison where a DOG can get it, means leaving it where children can get it. The campground is not being run professionally or safely. Call the county health department at a minimum.

I also agree, the campground should pay the vet bill. Glad to hear the dog is recovering.

Paula

[ROBERT CROSS]

So sad to hear of the poisoning.

Hope all works out well.

We have always camped with our best buddies, when not holding the leash, this is how we delt with the "control" concern....

[Pudentane]

Thought I would update the situation for those interested.

The campground owners(who are not on the premises) were horrified and maintained that the manager was not "authorized" or to use poison. Apparently they also did not follow the proceedure for using it by burying it but used it "topically".

The campground's insurance is paying the vet bills without a quibble - which are in excess of 8K.

The dog is recovering and has returned home from the hospital and apparently will not have long term effects although it will be on medication until February.

[xrvr]

Here in Fl gophers are an endangered species, oh wait, different kind of gopher. Thanks for the headsup on the poison issue. We keep ours on a 6 foot leash because most campgrounds require that and they can still find goodies to eat off the ground. zz

[kaffe_1477]

I have 2 pugs...anyone that owns pugs and for that fact any dog or has a kid knows that buy the time you know they have it (anything bad) is has made its way in the mouth. In this case, I feel liabiltiy rest on both parties, more so on the campgrounds due to negligently broadcasting the product.

Bottom line, I am glad the pet is going to live to see another campground and the owner will nodoubtedly pay more attention to what it is sniffing.