Three dogs have suddenly passed away recently, and some believe that rat poison is to blame.
According to the New York Post, 42-year-old Ralph Edwards was over-the-moon to welcome Cali, a Rottweiler puppy, into his family.
The two became inseparable and enjoyed regular walks from their Washington Heights apartment building in New York City. However, things took a tragic turn when Cali became severely ill one morning.
Her sickness was sudden and came on without warning. Edwards immediately rushed her to a vet and the vet had him transfer her to a veterinary hospital for better care.
After the hospital worked on Cali and ran some tests, Edwards was given devastating news: Her kidneys and liver had failed. Edwards had to make the heartbreaking decision to put her down.
Vets were unsure what caused Cali’s sudden sickness, but Edwards believes she ingested rat poison on the street outside.
Speaking with the New York Post, Edwards explained, “The only other thing that could have run through her so rapidly was poison they told me. She was a puppy, we didn’t really bring her anywhere or go out of town or anything like that. Just neighborhood walks and that was about it. I just put all the pieces together.”
According to Purdue University, cholecalciferol rat poison pellets are one of the most common rodenticides in the United States. It “causes a life-threateningly high calcium and phosphorus level in the body, resulting in severe, acute kidney failure.”
As per The Post, Cali’s sudden death wasn’t an isolated case in the area. Two other dogs have allegedly died suddenly in the same area of Washington Heights that Cali lived and walked in. Edwards believes that rat poison may have been the culprit for not just Cali’s death, but or the deaths of the other two dogs as well.
The situation was so shocking to the dogs’ owners that flyers have been posted in the neighborhood, warning others to keep their dogs away in case rat poison is on the ground.
Regardless of whether it was poison or something else that caused the dogs to die, one thing is certain: The loss of a pet is devastating.
