Muzzle dogs plea after pet poisoning

Ex-miner Arthur Roby faced the heart-breaking journey to the vet’s to have his beloved terrier-cross Rosie put to sleep after she chewed on a piece of raw liver left on a grassy verge near his home in Avondale Street, Standish, during a daily walk.

Scientific tests, says Arthur, confirmed the offal had been dosed with a rodent toxin.

The 77-year-old says that he angrily confronted the home owner he believes was responsible on the man’s doorstep although the resident denied responsibility.

Talks with friends have flagged up warnings that at least four other Standish dog owners faced serious poisoning incidents.

It isn’t clear if the “bait” was left for rats or to target cats, by residents angry about pet faeces left on the grass verge.

Arthur says that Rosie had a particular love of liver because the widower would always give her some when he regularly cooked it for his tea.

Realising something was wrong, he put his fingers into her mouth and throat to remove the meat before his dog swallowed it.

But by that time the rat poison had dosed her mouth and the vet decided that the kindest thing to do with the veteran terrier was to put her down.

The upset was magnified for Arthur, one of a dwindling group of the last Standish Robin Hill colliery former miners still alive, because Rosie was also a favourite of his late wife Annie.

Arthur said: “This is so dangerous because a child could so easily have picked it up and put it in their mouth.

“Dog-walkers should put a muzzle on their dogs so that they can’t be poisoned. Rosie was a blinding dog. Its awful but it could have been a kiddie.”