Wallsend, Newcastle: Fears pets, cats, dogs being poisoned intentionally
A Newcastle pet owner has been left devastated after her beloved cat Ollie — who loved vegemite on toast and cinnamon doughnuts — died from a ‘suspicious’ poisoning. It’s the latest in a string of cat and dog deaths in the area, believed to be caused by targeted poison attacks.
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Beloved family cat Ollie loved vegemite on toast and cinnamon doughnuts.
But cruelly the beloved 18-month-old cat was taken away when he ate poison and couldn’t recover.
Ollie was one of three cats and one dog in the Wallsend area which died in a spate of poisonings in recent days.
Owner Makenzie Keeley said she didn’t think too much of it when Ollie didn’t come home on Wednesday night but started to get concerned when she noticed a post circulating on Facebook which mentioned recent poisonings.
He was found under a car on Robert St on Thursday before he was taken to the vet.
“They tried to drain anything out and they told us he was poisoned,” Makenzie told The Newcastle News.
“It was too late because he was having convulsions and his heart went into failure.
“Last night when I found out, I was crying. They’re part of your family, just like a human.
“We had to break it to our three year old sister.”
Vet nurse at Wallsend vet Newcastle, Hayley Fewings confirmed there had been multiple cases in the area.
“There were all in the areas surrounding central Wallsend, areas within a one kilometre radius of Nelson street, which is the main street,” she said.
“We have also reached out to other vets in the area including Newcastle emergency centre in Broadmeadow and they have had multiple cases, the fatality rate has been very high.”
Ms Fewings said they suspect it is a targeted attack on pets.
“One of the reasons why we suspect it is a targeted poisoning is because cats are generally very smart creatures, they usually won’t go and eat a toxin unless it has been concealed in something or hidden in food,” she explained.
“Considering there has been so many cases in such a short period, with the same symptoms it is looking really suspicious.
“The tests we do don’t indicate exactly what toxin has caused the poisonings, we do know that is it some type of neurotoxin so it is affecting the nervous system, their brain function and causing a huge amount of damage to those systems very quickly.”
Vets are urging cat owners to keep their pets indoors and look out for any symptoms.
“Without knowing what toxin it is, the time period before they fall ill is quite hard to predict but if anyone notices symptoms such as muscle twitching, tremors, restlessness or seizures, anything out the ordinary, odd behaviour, definitely contact your local vet as soon as you can,” Ms Fewings added.
“During these worrying times, we recommend for people to keep their cats indoors, also when walking your dogs, keep a close eye on them, don’t let them eat anything.”
Anyone who may come across poison baits should report it to police immediately.