Dear Sir,
On the afternoon of Friday 6th February my wife, Maxine, and I were walking our dog Pippa, a 9 month old black Cocker Spaniel, along the new path which runs along side the rail track from Aycliffe to Shildon.
Along the way Pippa, unaware to us, ate something in the grass area along the right hand side. Pippa seemed fine until we got to Shildon and started walking back. At first her back legs were dragging a little, her claws scraping along the ground as she walked, then if she was stood still her back legs started to buckle and give way.
After another few minutes she started to collapse.
Distraught, we carried her the rest of the way to the opening just past Greenfield roundabout, where I left my wife with Pippa so I could run home to get the car to take her to the vets.
A big thank you to the kind woman who stopped, while I was heading home, to offer assistance to my wife. We took her straight to “Value vets” at Cobblers Hall where they began treating Pippa for eating a toxic substance.
Upset, we went home to await any news which turned out to be quite serious and she needed to be taken to Wilson Vets in Bishop Auckland, to be monitored and treated overnight. We feared the worst, but thankfully Pippa pulled through and we took her home on Saturday afternoon. We were told it was most probably Slug Bait, which will kill in less than 24 hours if not treated!
The reason for this letter is to make dog walkers aware of the risk of their pets picking anything up which would harm them, and to make dog walkers who use that pathway aware of the hazard.
A big thank you once again to the kind motorist who stopped and offered assistance and to Value Vets for their help, and a very big thank you to Wilson Vets at Bishop Auckland for their overnight care and treatment of Pippa, for which she may not have survived.
L. Hamilton
