'Much loved' family dogs suffered horrible deaths

Major, a nine-year-old Collie, and Archie, a one-year-old Staffordshire Bull Terrier suffered agonising deaths after consuming strychnine at the weekend.

The poison was scattered along the Drummeen Road, off the Cookstown dual carriageway, and the dogs are believed to have eaten it while out walking with their owners.

Strychnine was also found on a bone found lying at the side of the country road. Four wild birds were also poisoned in nearby fields.

Animal Welfare are now investigating the incident after the distressed family called the PSNI on Sunday.

Sylvia Wren says she believes the poison was set intentionally and said she wanted to highlight the danger to other members of the public.

She said the family has been devastated and “trying to get their heads round why anyone would want to do such a thing”.

Her sister-in-law had taken the dogs for a walk on Saturday and when she came back the Staffordshire Terrier Archie was unwell and they took him to the vet.

Sylvia said the vet told them it was caused by toxic poisoning and he kept that pet which died in the early hours of Sunday morning.

They had to search for the Collie dog Major and later found him lying dead in the garden.

Sylvia, whose husband Christopher, an off-duty member of the Royal Irish Regiment, was murdered in a booby-trap explosion in 1993, said she has two grandchildren with autism. One of them, Christopher, is non-verbal and with severe learning difficulties.

“He goes for walks up this road daily and it could easily have been him who lifted a pellet,” she said. “It was awful, horrendous what happened to the dogs.”

Local DUP councillor Wesley Brown said he “utterly condemned” the incident.

“To leave strychnine pellets along the side of a road is totally irresponsible and puts in danger the lives of both people and animals,” he said.

He asked people to exercise caution while out walking and report anything they consider suspicious to the appropriate authorities.

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