Crufts dog killed in poison plot
A PRIZE-winning Crufts dog has died amid allegations he may have been deliberately poisoned at the internationally renowned dog show.
Jagger, a £50,000 Irish setter, collapsed on Friday, the day after coming second in his class, and his owner believes he was fed meat laced with toxins.
In what could become the biggest scandal in Crufts’ 124year history, she believes the poisoner mistakenly targeted the wrong dog and had intended to kill another of her Irish setters, which looks similar.
The dog’s death has been reported to police and animal welfare officials and to Crufts organiser the Kennel Club.
CCTV footage from Crufts venue the Birmingham NEC is being reviewed.
THE world of dog breeding was rocked by scandal last night amid allegations that a prizewinner at this year’s Crufts was deliberately poisoned.
In a plot straight from the pages of a detective drama, a breeder claimed her £50,000 Irish setter died after he was fed meat laced with toxins.
But she believes the poisoner mistakenly targeted the wrong dog and had intended to kill another of her Irish setters that looks very similar.
In what could become the biggest scandal in Crufts’ 124-year history, three-year-old Jagger collapsed and died on Friday, the day after coming second in his class at the world’s most famous dog show.
Tests found that Jagger – pedigree name Thendara Satisfaction – had eaten cubed beef laced with up to three poisons.
However co-owner Dee Milligan-Bott believes the intended victim was fouryear-old Noodle, pedigree name Thendara Pot Noodle, who won best of breed on the day Jagger competed.
The two almost identical looking dogs had switched places on the benches where entrants sit before and after going in the show ring at the NEC in Birmingham. Jagger died in the arms of joint owner Alexandra Lauwers at her home in Belgium.
She reported his death to police and animal welfare officials there, and to the Kennel Club, which runs Crufts.
CCTV footage from the NEC is being reviewed but West Midlands Police and the RSPCA here have yet to be informed officially.
There has been controversy over the increasing number of foreign dogs allowed to compete at Crufts, which attracts more than 20,000 entries from 200 breeds. This year’s competition ended l ast night with Knopa, a foreign-owned Scottish terrier, being named best in show.
But Jagger’s owners say he could have been fed the poisoned meat by a ‘random psychopathic dog hater’ or a jealous rival breeder. The Kennel Club said it had not heard of such an incident before and promised to assist any police inquiries.
Last night Mrs Milligan-Bott, 56, said she had ‘done nothing but cry’ over Jagger’s death.
She said: ‘We think this is the work of some random psychopathic dog hater who decided to visit Crufts with one thing in mind, rather than any sort of targeted attack.’ Mrs Milligan-Bott, who breeds and shows Afghan hounds and Irish setters with her husband Jeremy Bott, 66, said tests showed Jagger had been killed by a ‘pesticide-type’ poison.
She said: ‘Some sadistic person out there poisoned our dog. Crufts is a high-profile event and we live in a very anti-dog society.’
The holding area where dogs are ‘benched’ before and after competing is open to the public, although they are asked not to touch the animals.
She plans to inform West Midlands Police of the circumstances surrounding Jagger’s death when she receives the written toxicology report later this week.
Mrs Milligan-Bott said she had heard of rumours of skullduggery involving other breeders at shows but had not come across anything like this in 30 years of competing.
‘I don’t believe it had anything to do with other competitors,’ she said. ‘We have had so many calls [from other breeders who were at the show]... everybody has been pulling together and offering support.’
She is convinced Jagger was fed poisoned meat when he was on the bench on one of the handful of occasions he was left on his own for up to 15 minutes – the only times he was unattended. She is unsure if that was before or after he entered the show ring.
She told Dog World magazine’s website that nothing appeared untoward until both dogs returned to her home in Kilsby, Northamptonshire, after competing on the first day of the show on Thursday.
‘All the dogs were all running and playing together and Jagger seemed a bit tired, unable to keep up with the others,’ she said.
‘Three or four hours later, after getting back to Belgium, he collapsed and by the time the vet arrived he was dead. The post-mortem showed that two or three different poisons were used and that it is likely it was administered on Thursday morning.
‘We’re now waiting for exact toxicology reports. Whoever did this knew what they were doing, trying to get exactly the right type of poison with a slow release.’
The dogs had changed places on the bench after one became agitated about being near a bitch in season, it is understood.
In another twist, Mrs Milligan-Bott said the best of breed and challenge certificates won by Noodle had mysteriously been taken from the benches at some point.
‘And at Richmond last year someone
‘Turning into a nasty sport’
let one of my dogs off its bench and he went missing, before being found on someone else’s bench,’ she added. ‘It’s been suggested that someone’s really got it in for us, and to not let it get to us. There do seem to be too many coincidences.’
Mrs Milligan-Bott, whose setters were named Thendara after her kennels, which has a worldwide reputation for breeding champion show dogs, added: ‘It’s turning into such a nasty sport. I went back to Crufts on Saturday but I was like a zombie – I just thought, “I don’t want to do this any more”.’
A post on her Facebook page outlined the death of ‘our beautiful boy’ Jagger and warned other competitors not to leave their dogs unattended at Crufts.
At her home in Tongeren, near Liege, Mrs Lauwers, 34, a full-time breeder who takes her dogs to see the elderly in residential homes, said: ‘They have not only taken away a dog, or merely a pet, they have taken away a family member.
‘It should be a hobby and nothing more. To think he may have been poisoned by a rival at a dog show just makes it even harder to take.
‘How people can resort to killing a helpless animal from jealousy or hate for a dog in a competition is too much to comprehend. I know people take it seriously but If you want to target me, smash my windows or something – don’t go and kill my pet dog.
‘He could have been targeted for being a foreign dog, there’s a lot of
‘He died in my
arms’
ill feeling from some camps towards them for some reason.
‘But first and foremost he was our pet and we are absolutely distraught. He died right in front of me in my arms, there was nothing we could do. My little boy is only nine, he is devastated.’
Mrs Lauwers took Jagger’s body to a clinic. She said they found ‘green and black substances inside cubes of beef’ in his stomach.
‘Jagger loved people and he loved food - he would have just trusted whoever gave it to him,’ she said.
She is due to give a full statement to police today and toxicology reports are due to be completed on Wednesday or Thursday.
Jagger cost around £850 as a puppy and won best of breed at the Ladies’ Kennel Association show at the NEC in December.
Because of his pedigree, success in shows and value as a stud dog, he could have commanded a price of up to £50,000, experts said.
Jagger was not insured for any particular sum of money, however, only by normal pet insurance which covers vets’ fees.
Kennel Club secretary Caroline Kisko said: ‘The Kennel Club is deeply shocked and saddened to hear that Jagger the Irish setter died some 26 hours after leaving Crufts. We have spoken to his owners and our heartfelt sympathies go out to them. We understand that the toxicology report is due next week and until that time we cannot know the cause of this tragic incident.’