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Possum bait danger always present
A FARMING reader in Hetherington Road, Waikato, NZ is very distressed after the poisoning of one of her dogs, and wants to warn others to keep their dogs safe at all times.
She went for a run on the farm with her four dogs and one of them, a huntaway, disappeared - running back to find the woman's husband who was working nearby in a paddock that contained a bait station. Her husband had observed that there was a lot of bait over the ground, and was picking it up when he noticed the dog coming back towards him. He never saw the dog eat anything, and tied it up as soon as it got near to him.
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A bait station in use by an unwary possum. Inset: Possum bait pellets.
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However, the dog ate a good meal that night (Saturday) but ate nothing at all on Sunday and was taken to the vet on Monday. Tests done by the vet revealed that it had been poisoned by possum bait, which led to many questions. There are other bait stations on the farm so there is the possibility that the dog passed by another of the bait stations that also had spilled out all over the paddock.
Information sheets about the pellets claim that a dog would have to have eaten half a pound of pellets before it would be affected, but the owner doubts that the dog would have found more than a few as it ran across the paddocks. Also it appears that information on the symptoms to look for is incorrect, as the main symptoms listed are 'bleeding from the mouth, anus or nose'.
The huntaway showed none of those, it was not eating and subdued, but that was all. The dog's owner says there are a few possibilities: Possums could have clawed the baits out on more than one of the stations and spilled them over the paddocks; cattle could have knocked the tree hard enough to spill the baits; or the bait stations were overfilled.
Whatever the reason, the warning is clear - if you live near to bait stations and your dog looks sick or goes off its food, don't wait for the given symptoms before taking it to the vet as these may not be displayed at all. And if the bait stations often have their contents clawed out by possums surely a safer type could be developed?
The huntaway is at present in Hamilton undergoing drip and vitamin treatment and the owners are hoping that it will recover - a very expensive lesson for them.
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