# mysterious dog deaths



## bushkid (Jan 2, 2008)

Hello all, i was wondering if anyone has any idea of what may have caused the deaths of two dogs which died three weeks apart at our place (500km south of Darwin NT). They were both border collie crosses of around 20kg and had been chained up for several hours when they began barking, yelping, trembling and charging back and forth on the end of the chain. They each died inside of an hour of starting to make a noise. One dog had some blood from the mouth/nose but she may have just bitten her toungue in the frenzy. 
The vet said, "Sounds like a toxin," and offered to test for poison for $300.
I have lost dogs to snakebite previously but never seen the barking and trying to gallop before. Snakebite seems to cause bleeding under the skin, which was not evident here. We are not new to the area and have always had dogs. Perhaps it was a different snake, but it would have had to have come into the dogs' circle of reach. I was also thinking spider???
I would be interested to hear everyone's views on this.


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## dintony (Jan 2, 2008)

Could they have been baited?


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## Joshua VW (Jan 2, 2008)

That sounds really nasty!
I hope you find out what happened to them 'cause I have no idea as to what it could be.

Welcome to APS.


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## mrmikk (Jan 2, 2008)

Sounds like bait to me, 1080 poison makes dogs run around madly before they die.

I am sorry to hear of your loss.


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## hornet (Jan 2, 2008)

yea, sounds like 1080 to me.


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## $NaKe PiMp (Jan 2, 2008)

definantly not spider,as far as i know dogs are immune to most spider bites


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## GraftonChic (Jan 2, 2008)

I agree sounds like baited to me


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## scorps (Jan 2, 2008)

poor dogs


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## Armand (Jan 2, 2008)

yeh i agree its baited.. must be 1080 cause what you have said is pretty much exactly wat 1080 do to dogs.. hope you find out what it was.


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## kirstys (Jan 2, 2008)

rat bait when my dog go sick and bleeding from the nose and mouth thats the first thing they checked her for, but it was a platelet problem. But i would say being 2 dogs you have some one baiting your dogs


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## Jungle_Freak (Jan 2, 2008)

Sounds like you have a venomous snake living close by your dogs , 
the barking would be the dogs on alert and barking at the snake then yelping at being bitten and usually a quick death, 

Roger


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## Helikaon (Jan 2, 2008)

Jungle_Freak said:


> Sounds like you have a venomous snake living close by your dogs ,
> the barking would be the dogs on alert and barking at the snake then yelping at being bitten and usually a quick death,
> 
> Roger


 

yep 1080 0r snake bite, alot of dogs after a snake bite will be come hyperactive. and then crash very quickly and die. 1080 is an evil evil chemical same goes for strichnine. 1080 causes the animal to become extremely hypersensitive to external influences such as sound and movement and then the animals dies of a heart attack.


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## Rossagon (Jan 2, 2008)

Cane Toads? Just another option. Whether its viable or not, I'm not sure.


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## Helikaon (Jan 2, 2008)

Rossagon said:


> Cane Toads? Just another option. Whether its viable or not, I'm not sure.


 

cane toad toxin causes the dog to go into convulsions whiel foaming at the mouth. if they consumed enough of it. they will then go on like this for some time, and is very easily treated, it is basically jsut giving them a shot of diazepam to stop muscle convulsions and prevent over heating and washign the toxin from teh gums carefully so the animal does not aspirate water, adn then it is watched to make sure it doesnt relapse


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## snakewhisper (Jan 2, 2008)

Oppps... Was'ent me or any of my mates....


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## bylo (Jan 2, 2008)

PiMp said:


> definantly not spider,as far as i know dogs are immune to most spider bites


dogs and cats will die within 14 minutes of a Tarantula bite


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## theduclos (Jan 2, 2008)

here a quick wikipedia result. i was interested in knowing what people put in baits myself. not that ill go killing peoples dogs though.

Sodium fluoroacetate is used as a rodenticide. Farmers and graziers use the poison to protect pastures and crops from various herbivorous mammals. It is used in New Zealand to control the Common Brushtail Possum, while in the United States it is used to kill coyotes. Other countries using 1080 include Australia, Mexico and Israel.[2]
Western Shield is a recent project to boost populations of endangered mammals in south-west Australia. The project is to drop Sodium fluoroacetate baited meat from helicopters or light aircraft to kill predators. Wild dogs and foxes will readily eat the baited meat. Cats pose a greater difficulty as cats aren’t interested in already dead animals. Recently a pilot tried putting small sound generators inside the baits with significant positive results.[_citation needed_] However, an Australian RSPCA commissioned study criticized 1080 calling it an inhumane killer.[10]


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## Midol (Jan 2, 2008)

1080 poison.

I am firmly opposed to 1080. One of the most inhumane poisons I have ever seen. If the government wants to destroy the fox populations then they need to start issuing fox hunting permits.


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## DragonKeeper (Jan 2, 2008)

Tasmania uses 1080 to kill Wallabies... for gods sakes Natvie Animals!

They were here before we were...

And also, I feel so sorry for you, if anyone ever hurt one of my dogs I would beat them to death with a baseball bat... But thats just the way I am, my dogs are family.


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## kakariki (Jan 2, 2008)

I have to agree with 1080.:evil: 7 years ago at Easter some lovelly person baited my shepherd. She was howling and barking then started racing round the house. I let her out into the backyard & she just ran & ran, yelping and barking. I brought her back inside cos she had reached exhaustion point. She jumped on the couch & then all of a sudden she just fell off the couch and died. It was the worse thing I have ever seen & my kids [who were 2yrs & 4 yrs were terrified. 1080 should never be used on anything IMO. It is the most horrible death. Being Good Friday I couldn't get hold of a vet & when I did he said he wouldn't have been able to save her. You have my deepest sympathy on your loss.


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## bushkid (Jan 3, 2008)

I have heard tarantulas will kill dogs but not people, but the only symptom I can find on the web is respiratry arrest. 1080 is a very remote possibility, I would think a snake more likely.
Thanks all for your replies.


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## Miss_Croft (Jan 6, 2008)

*1080 - not snakebite*

Looking at your symptoms – I am going to go for 1080 poisoning – it takes anything from 30 minutes to 3 hours before your dogs showed symptoms. I can pretty much rule out snake bite as dogs tend to become quiet, froth at the mouth, get the shivers and go off their tucker.

I have seen two cases of Common Easter Brown snake bites. In both cases the dogs yelped when bitten and then started to slow down (One was walked after it had been bitten – Unbeknown to the person caring for him) and had to be carried home after he was unable to walk (Slowed right down). He was later found dead in his kennel. 

The second dog was bitten in her kennel. I think the eastern common brown entered her dog house – a dead snake found dead. There were two dogs in the kennel – one refused to go into the dog house and the second was very sick. The sick dog was very quiet, got the shivers, went off her tucker (Eat then promptly vomited it up again), started to froth at the mouth and looked very grey. The next morning she was a little quiet (Was not running around like normal) and the following day she was back to her hyperactive way.

So back to your symptoms – I think we can rule out snake bite due to the hyperactivity. Snakes bite to slow their prey down. The symptoms are the same for 1080 poisoning. 

Do you know of the use of any bates around where you live? 

Also fact the dog was tied up when this happened (1080 symptoms are realized between 30 minutes and 3 hours form consumption) Indicates it may have been deliberate.


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## nuthn2do (Jan 6, 2008)

> and had been chained up for several hours when they began barking, yelping, trembling and charging back and forth on the end of the chain


I'd be checking the area for 1080


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## kakariki (Jan 6, 2008)

Foxes and birds can carry baits quite a distance from the original site the bait was put. Or unfortunately they may have been a deliberate target.


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## Jozz (Jan 6, 2008)

snakewhisper said:


> Oppps... Was'ent me or any of my mates....


 
:shock::shock::shock:


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## bushkid (Jan 8, 2008)

DragonKeeper said:


> Tasmania uses 1080 to kill Wallabies... for gods sakes Natvie Animals!
> 
> They were here before we were...
> 
> Australia now has many more macropods (kangaroos and wallabies) than before European settlement. This is because we have changed the landscape to suit grazing animals. What suits a cow or sheep also suits most macropods. You reach the point of all plant life being devastated by this horde of native animals, until there is a drought to starve most of them.


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## Tatelina (Jan 8, 2008)

Jungle_...the barking would be the dogs on alert and barking at the snake then yelping at being bitten and usually a quick death said:


> Or just from being in pain. Sounds nasty.
> Hope they weren't chained the whole time..what a crap way to die.


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