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Family’s dog dies after eating poisoned chicken in Red Deer yard

Watch above: A little boy from Red Deer is heartbroken after the family’s dog was poisoned. Tracy Nagai reports.

RED DEER, Alta. – Meghan Elgert says her nine-year-old son is heartbroken after losing his best friend Phineus, the family’s dog who was poisoned by raw chicken left in the backyard.

On Friday, Elgert let both of the family pets—Phineus and Eva—play in the backyard for about an hour and a half. When she returned, she knew something was wrong.

“He was having convulsions and seizuring, and flopping around like a fish out of water,” she said.

Phineus was rushed to a veterinary clinic, and Elgert went home to see if she could find what the dog had eaten. She then realized Eva was also in trouble.

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“She’s just foaming at the mouth, her back end is dragging and she can barely walk,” she said.

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Elgert says the vet found raw chicken laced with poison in the dogs’ stomachs. The chicken is now being tested to find out exactly which kind of poison it was laced with. Though Eva is recovering, Phineus died on Saturday—a hard loss for Elgert’s son to bear.

“It’s hard explaining to a nine-year-old what kind of cruel people there are and how people could do that,” she said.

“They should be worrying what toys they’re playing with at the park, not that someone is poisoning their best friend.”

Elgert says she’s been contacted about another poisoning not far from her house, but RCMP say hers is the only dog poisoning reported in Red Deer so far this year.

Meghan Elgert’s dog, Phineus, died after eating chicken laced with poison found in her Red Deer, Alta. backyard on Friday, May 22, 2015. Handout

 

With files from Erika Tucker

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