www.insidehalton.com |OAKVILLE BEAVER |Thursday, October 5, 2017 |28 Fam ily m ourns loss o f p et who died o f poisoning by David Lea Oakville Beaver Staff An Oakville woman is warning residents to be vigilant concerning what is on their property after she says her dog was poisoned with antifreeze last month. Agnes Gural and her family are continuing to mourn the loss of their eight-year-old Cairn terrier Tucker, who died at the Mississauga/ Oakville Veterinary Emergency Hospital Aug. 23. The little dog had been part of the Gural family for a long time having been adopted when he was just a few months old. "He was actually my son Steven' s dog. My son was 15 at the time. We had never had a pet in our lives, but Steven saved up all his money and talked us into getting a dog," said Agnes. "So we got Tucker and we loved him. Of course my son ended up going off to university so I ended up being the one left to walk him and look after him so really he became my baby." The Ballantry Road resident said the first indication something was wrong came on Aug. 21 when Tucker, who was normally very enthusiastic about his walks, refused to leave his home that evening. "I didn't think that was unusual because it was so hot that day and he didn't like the heat," she said. That night Agnes woke up to the sound of Tucker desperately scratching at the lid of a toilet seat, having drunk all his water downstairs. She gave him more water, which he quickly drank, and went back to sleep. When Agnes woke up in the early morning it became clear Tucker was seriously ill having vomited upwards of 10 times throughout the house. Her husband Peter also pointed out that the little dog was desperately thirsty having drunk four bowls of water in an hour. Tucker | Agnes Gural photo "I put him out back and was trying to clean up and I could see that his back legs were just collapsing," said Agnes. "I was on the phone to the vet and they said, `Bring him straight in.'" The family took Tucker to Oakpark Pet Hospital where the vet noted the dog was seriously dehydrated. At this point, the family was asked if Tucker had gotten into anything toxic, specifically antifreeze. "I told them `No, we don't have antifreeze. We don't have anything like that lying around,'" said Agnes. The vet hooked Tucker up to an IV in an effort to rehydrate him, but his condition continued to deteriorate. Later that day Tucker was transferred to the veterinary emergency hospital where the family was told his kidneys were shutting down. "We were just holding him. We were just there for about an hour holding him and then we had to leave him," said Agnes, choking back tears. "That night about 9:25 p.m., they called to say he had a seizure so they gave him Valium to calm him down." The following morning the family agreed to have Tucker put down to end his suffering. "It was just a nightmare," said Agnes. "We were beside ourselves." As the family struggled with what had happened, they returned to their daily routine and Agnes' husband Peter attended to some gardening. It was only when he reached a corner of the property that he discovered a large amount of dog food, which was not theirs. Not knowing why this dog food was on their property, the family contacted Oakpark Pet Hospital and asked if it could be analyzed. Dr. Terri Lowe, a veterinarian with Oakpark, had the sample tested. "They found ethylene glycol (antifreeze) on that," said Lowe. "It appears someone soaked this in antifreeze and then dumped it there. Otherwise there is no reason for that antifreeze to be present in the dog food." Lowe noted results of a post-mortem conducted on Tucker also supported the case that the little dog had been poisoned by antifreeze. Agnes said she was devastated by the news. "I was horrified," she said. "This was like losing a child. W hy would someone do this? If Tucker was an older dog and he was sick and we had to put him down that' s one thing, but this.. . " Agnes said she had never received a complaint about her dog and though he was "a bit of a barker" said he also had a special vibrating collar to curb that behaviour. The family contacted Halton police and an investigation is underway. Agnes said she has been told it may prove very difficult to determine where the poisoned food came from. "W hat upsets me is that if this had happened in a public park I could put the message out there that people need to look out for their dogs," said Agnes. "But this happened in my own yard. He wasn't even safe on his own property." Lowe is calling on residents to check their properties before they let their dogs out into their yards. Since this incident Lowe said she has been taking this precaution herself with her dogs. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact Halton Police Const. 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