There has been a tremendous amount of talk on Facebook about dogs getting sick after walking around the Appley to St Helens area. Sadly, this includes the story of one resident who lost their dog to a week of prolonged sickness due to a ‘gastric bug’.
The Lawns Veterinary Group in Ryde say they’ve seen dealt with cases of sickness in dogs that have been walked around Appley, through to St Helens. The cause of the sickness seems to be a mystery at the moment, but they report a good response from those dogs they’ve treated.
There’s no suggestion that dog walkers should avoid the area, but it’s probably worth keeping a close eye on your dog and its well-being if you do walk in those areas.
Unlikely to be connected to mushrooms
Ryde resident, Cora Wade, was able to tell On The Wight more about the situation after she recently had to take her dog, Harvey, to The Lawns.
Whilst out walking in Appley Park, Cora had noticed Harvey eating mushrooms and after hearing a report of a dog that’d died in November from eating poisonous mushrooms, she rushed him straight to the vets. The vet emptied his stomach and although no tests were carried out to identify whether the mushrooms were poisonous, Harvey was treated as such and is now recovering well.
It was whilst at the vets, Cora heard more about the reports of sickness in dogs in the Ryde area.
See your vet if dog unwell
She told On The Wight that the advice from The Lawns was if a dog becomes sick after a walk at the locations above (or at any time) that they should be taken to their normal vets so they can be given a full examination.
Each case is different, and some dogs will react differently than others to the sickness, so the advice was to be cautious and take your dog in if you have any concerns.
Response from the council
On The Wight asked the council whether they would be investigating the problem.
They said, “Having checked with the relevant contractors as well as the Environment Agency and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, there is no evidence whatsoever that there is anything within the council’s control that is responsible for this reported sickness.”
Image: Ron Saunders47 under CC BY 2.0
