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.
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.
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.
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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
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Leigh (IB Aluminated)
"When a great ship is in harbour and moored, it is safe, there can be no doubt. But that is not what great ships are built for." by Clarissa Pinkola-Estes, author of ‘Women Who Run With the Wolves’
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.
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.
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.
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1983 310 Turbo Diesel Mo/Ho "Bess" 212,835 miles
Full timing since 1994
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 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.
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1983 310 Turbo Diesel Mo/Ho "Bess" 212,835 miles
Full timing since 1994
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.
Last edited by whitelight; 10-05-2009 at 04:49 PM.
Reason: added sentence
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.
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...
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(2 lively boys, 2 dogs & a hubby) 2005 28' International CCD
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No discrimination there - which is part of the overall appeal of loving one.
It's just hard to know how some people think...
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