A DOG who died after competiting at Crufts was poisoned after returning to Belgium, The Kennel Club has said.
Following the results of toxicology tests, The Kennel Club claim it is ‘inconceivable’ that the Irish Setter, Jagger, was poisoned whilst at the world-famous dog competition.
Whilst it had previously been thought that Jagger had died in his co-owner’s arms back in Belgium after eating beef laced with a cocktail of poisons whilst at Crufts, according to the toxicology report, the dog had in fact injested ‘fast-acting’ poisons in Belgium shortly before his death.
The poisons identified – carbofuran and aldicarb – are both toxic pesticides, which are banned from use in the EU due to the deadly effects they can have on animals who come into contact with them.
In a statement released by The Kennel Club, Secretary Caroline Kisko, said the Club’s sympathies were with Jagger’s owners.
She added: “There has been a lot of concern about whether the poisoning happened at Crufts and we are now able to reassure all dog lovers who came to Crufts that this could not have been possible and it is highly likely that the poisons, thought to be on a piece of beef, were eaten in Belgium, shortly before Jagger’s death.
“We have a lot of security measures in place to protect the dogs at our show and we continually review our procedures because the welfare and safety of the dogs is our first and main priority.
“Regardless of the fact that the poison was not ingested at Crufts a dog has very sadly died and we must now respect the owners’ privacy and give them time to grieve.”
Caroline Kisko also went on to slam further reports of other dogs being poisoned at Crufts as ‘rumours’, arguing that there are no veterinary reports to support the claims and that no official reports have been made to the police.
Three-year-old Jagger, whose pedigree name is Thendara Satisfaction, had come second in his class at the internationally-renowned competition at the NEC.
In a statement released shortly after his death, Jagger’s Leicester-based co-owner Dee Millgan-Bott described her family’s devastation in the aftermath of what she called a ‘heinous crime’, and urged for the perpertrator to be found.
