Forty dogs poisoned in Rathnew over past four weeks

January 1995

A MYSTERY pet hater in Rathnew has condemned 40 dogs to a brutal death by poisoning in the last four weeks.

A local veterinary surgeon who has treated many of the poisoned animals has said that the poison could be equally as fatal for wildlife or even children if ingested.

The poisoners are using a deadly weed killer known as paraquat to carry out their carnage.

They have targeted mainly roaming dogs however some dogs which are in gardens all day have also been victims, meaning the poison would have had to be laid quite deliberately.

Local vet Mr O’Herlihy stated ‘It is very unpleasant and has been happening for as long as I have been in Wicklow and that is 25 years.’

However the fatal paraquat has never been used to this degree before now.

Symptoms, which involve considerable distress for the dogs, do not set in for around two days.

At that stage, according to Mr O’Herlihy it is too late to treat the dogs and many are put down.