A 3-year-old Irish Setter was fatally poisoned at Britain’s premier dog show and it’s owners are calling the “heinous crime” an act of murder by an outside saboteur.
Jagger, aka Thendara Satisfaction, appeared to be munching on a harmless treat while on the stand during public viewing at Crufts in London.
But inside the meaty snack was a lethal surprise — a capsule of garden-slug killer.
“I ask all of you to unite in finding the perpetrator who did this,” co-owner Dee Milligan-Bott wrote on Facebook.
“I beg of you if anyone can remember seeing anything suspicious please LET ME KNOW.”
Milligan-Bott and her husband, Jeremy Bott, believe the killing was the act of an agitator who is against dog shows in general.
“I certainly don’t want our dog shows — the places we work so hard to get to — to become a ground of finger-pointing and suspicion,” Milligan-Bott said.
Authorities have not been asked to investigate, and The Kennel Club, which organizes Crufts, said it is awaiting a toxicology report before deciding what action to take.
Meanwhile, there were reports Monday that another Crofts dog had fallen ill after the show.
“The facts surrounding Jagger’s sad death are still being established,” The Kennel Club said. “We must stress that any other unsubstantiated rumors about dogs being poisoned are just that,”
Canine competitions have long been the subject of rumors about unscrupulous behavior — including owners slipping drugs to rival dogs. In 1996, a breeder was banned for giving valium to a Chihuahua at another British show.
With Wires