Dog-walking spot closed as mystery ailment kills 16 pets

dogs London - Arabstoday   A popular dog walking spot in Yorkshire, England, has been closed after 16 pets mysteriously died or became ill. Officials suspect the animals may have been poisoned, but no one knows if they were deliberately targeted or died by accident. In almost all instances, the dogs collapsed and died in agony within minutes of returning from a walk along a tree-lined footpath which leads down to fields by a lake. The death toll has reached 13 within one week and three others are seriously ill. Vets are carrying out postmortem examinations to try to pinpoint the exact cause of death. Slug or snail pellets, anti-freeze and toxic mushrooms are among possible causes. A pool nearby was initially thought to contain toxic water but the experts said that had been ruled out. Families in the village of Cross Hills, North Yorkshire, have been stunned by the loss of their pets. Eileen Johnson's Jack Russell Diesel was one of the first dogs to die when he collapsed just 10 minutes after returning home from a walk. Johnson, 71, had put the kettle on after the walk when she heard a thump and turned around to see her pet having a fit. "We walk the fields five days a week and I can't believe this has happened. He was a lovely, lively little thing. He had never been ill and then he died so suddenly as if someone just came in and shot him in front of my eyes," she said. Louise Horsforth's dog Lola, a spaniel cross, had a lucky escape when she was taken ill following a walk. Mother of two Horsforth, 46, said: "It's so strange that so many dogs have died, I am so lucky Lola survived. My kids would have been devastated." She said there was a delay in picking up the scale of the problem because half the dogs went to one local veterinary practice and the other half were taken to the other. Now word is spreading among dog owners in the community with warnings being put out via Facebook and Twitter. From / Gulf News