Dog owners around Heemstedestraat in Amsterdam’s Hoofddorppleinbuurt are very concerned after three dogs have died in the area in the past two days. According to the owners, their dogs were perfectly healthy. They all showed the same symptoms, which could indicate poisoning, according to the veterinary clinic that treated them. “This is mysterious,” says one of the owners.
Margreet van Dam walked with her dog on Wednesday evening. “Normally, Lily doesn’t eat anything strange, and I always pay close attention.” When we got home she was still very much alive. “In the morning I woke up and didn’t see her in my bedroom, while she normally does.” Once downstairs she saw her dog lying there. “Already completely stiff and there was a lot of vomit to be seen.”
The same thing happened to two other dogs from different owners. One of them is Pele. His owner Sofie Coronel let him out, he was kept on a leash as almost always. “We walked on the sidewalk between the trees. My dog is four years old and otherwise very healthy.” Her dog started to feel worse and worse. “When I came to the vet, they immediately asked which zip code it was about, because other cases had come in.” Pelle has also passed away.
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Dog Lily
Dog Pelle
Two of the three were treated by the same veterinary clinic. “It is not yet possible to determine with 100 percent certainty whether this is really poisoning,” says a doctor from the clinic. “But it is suspicious. Normally we don’t have that many animals in a short time with the same complaints. And the complaints can be related to poisoning.”
This includes epileptic complaints. “Things like a tumor cannot be ruled out, but the same complaints so close together seems to be something different.” It is up to the owners themselves to have further research done.
Warning
How it could have happened is still unclear, even for the owners. Sophie thinks it might have something to do with drugs. “I didn’t find anything on the street, so it may have to do with shelters around here.” Margreet speaks of rat poison: “Maybe that’s it, there are so many rats here.”
According to the police and the municipality, this problem must be taken seriously. “There are so many pets here at our property and in the rest of the neighborhood,” said one of the owners. “I have warned the neighborhood that this is happening, because this should not happen to more owners.” Two cats have also died, she said.
The vet thinks this needs to be looked into further: “If the common denominator is poisoning and drugs, then this has to stop. The emotional damage to owners is irreparable.”
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