Resident praises community and warns dog owners after attempted dog poisoning in Coton Park

A Coton Park resident wishes to warn others after her family pet had to be rushed to the vet when she ate tainted raw meat that had been strewn across a park.

On the afternoon of Thursday, November 5, Elizabeth Basten was walking the family pet, a six-month-old miniature daschund named Trixie, on the path that runs next to the Coton Park Play Area.

"Trixie was sniffing around and, before I could get to her, she'd got something in her mouth," Elizabeth said.

"I looked around and I could see pieces of what looked like raw chicken strewn across the area."

Elizabeth picked up one of the pieces with a tissue and examined it, realising it appeared to be raw meat that smelled strange.

"With hindsight, it was probably quite dangerous to pick it up," she said.

She immediately called the vet she usually takes Trixie to.

They were due to close very shortly, so they recommended the nearest emergency vets - Vets4Pets just off Technology Drive.

Elizabeth rushed Trixie there and the vet quickly took an X-ray.

"The vet said there have been cases before of people embedding fishhooks and nails in meat and leaving them for dogs," Elizabeth said.

"It was really frightening. Thankfully the X-ray showed no metal inside her."

The vet then administered medication to make Trixie sick in the hope that whatever toxins she might have ingested would be got rid of.

"Because of covid I had to sit in the waiting room while all this was going on," Elizabeth said.

"After about 30 minutes the vet came to give me the good news that Trixie had brought the meat back up.

"I was then given some liquid carbon to syringe into her mouth every hour to help her liver process any toxins that she might have ingested.

"She's a miniature daschund and she's only six months old so she's tiny, there was the worry that it wouldn't take much to overwhelm her system."

Although the vet did not have the means to test the sample of meat Elizabeth had brought in a tissue, he agreed that it smelled particularly strange, and suspected it might have been laced with poison.

"This is a popular route with dog walkers and the meat was left so close to the children's playground - a toddler could have been running around and found some of the meat," Elizabeth said.

"Whoever did this is clearly very sick."

Thankfully little Trixie appears to have made a full recovery, and when the Advertiser spoke to Elizabeth she was out taking a very energetic Trixie for a walk.

Elizabeth praised the Coton Park community and the Coton Park Residents' Association for all their help and support.

"This is an example of social media doing some good," she said.

"The residents' association quickly put a warning out and I've had people who didn't know me before approaching me in the street and asking how Trixie is doing."

Rugby council's Environmental Health team have been to clear the park and Rugby Police told residents they will be stepping up patrols in the area.

Elizabeth has a key message for dog owners: "Always keep a look out for things like this.

"And if your dog does eat anything strange, speed is of the essence. Call a vet straight away - don't wait to see how it goes."