When her seven-month-old puppy passed away from an unexplained illness a few days after going for a stroll in the park, its mother has issued a warning to dog owners.
On February 9, Chloe Vickers brought Oscar, a puppy sproodle—a hybrid between a Poodle and an English Springer Spaniel—to Wythenshawe Park in Greater Manchester.
Yet soon after being there, Oscar began to feel unwell. He passed away at home with his family only three days later.
Since then, Ms. Vickers has used social media to caution other dog owners to be cautious on walks and watch out for any symptoms of illness.
The Manchester City Council acknowledged knowledge of the problem. The RSPCA also advises consumers to call their veterinarians right away if their dogs exhibit a similar behavior.
The Manchester Evening News quoted Ms. Vickers as saying, “The park is normally packed with dogwalkers. That simply happened to us and felt like very terrible luck.”
“On Thursday morning, as we usually did, I took Oscar for a stroll in the park, and he was playing about as he normally did.
“On this particular day, we took a short detour away from the café and into the woods. Yet, he was still moving around as usual and everything was as usual.
Yet after such a long walk, he refused to drink anything when we arrived home, which was unlike of him. Later, when he became ill, we brought him to the vet, where they administered anti-sickness medication.
Yet at this time, he began vomiting often and spilling blood. He seemed to be rapidly declining and was quite sluggish.
The veterinarians informed me that since he didn’t yet have insurance, they couldn’t see him right immediately. We could clearly tell that he was dying at this time, so it was terrible to call around all day on Friday and Saturday trying to obtain some kind of assistance.
We were instructed to take him home to die at our next visit. We had no understanding why he was dying in front of us, and it was painful to see.
Ms. Vickers said that she had heard of similar incidents in Wythenshawe Park before, and that a friend had also lost a dog in like circumstances the previous year. She wants to utilize her experience to educate other dog owners.
He had just been our puppy since October, and he was a great dog. My tiny boy adored him so much that he still calls to ask, “Where are you, Oscar?” This was our first dog as a family, and we’ve shed a lot of tears over it.
While she is unsure of the exact reason, she has a suspicion that Oscar may have been poisoned or infected with the parovirus by something in the woods.
“This is worrying, and our sympathies are with dog owners who have been impacted by this,” an RSPCA spokeswoman said. We are not aware of these cases, but we advise anybody whose pet becomes unwell under similar conditions to get in touch with their veterinarians right once.
The Manchester City Council said that they are requesting that park employees exercise caution.
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