Dog left badly sick after eating poison-laced meat thrown into family garden

Gavin Woodman says his family’s two-year-old German shepherd, Skyla, has been battling sickness since consuming a suspect package tossed into their garden on December 28.

Containing pink pellets, the sausage was the first of four items thrown on to the Woodmans’ property by December 30.

Mr Woodman of Elmeswelle Road, Lovedean, has dubbed the act ‘evil’ and ‘disgusting’.

The 40-year-old father-of-three said: ‘This has clearly been done by someone who does not care about attacking an innocent animal or the family it belongs to.

‘Lots of people who don’t have pets can’t understand the emotional attachment to them, but Skyla is part of our family.

‘It must take an evil, evil person to think about doing something this disgusting.’

After eating the sausage, Skyla began vomiting and her owners found blood in her excrement.

Her illness forced her owners to fork out nearly £200 in veterinary bills.

Mr Woodman said: ‘This isn’t about money, we just want our dog to be okay.

‘But having to pay for someone else’s cruelty just after Christmas is a real hit – not only financially, but emotionally too.’

Now, with Skyla slowly progressing back to good health, the Woodman family is on a mission to ensure the incident does not repeat itself.

Police, the RSPCA and the Environmental Health Agency have all been made aware of Skyla’s plight – which Gavin’s wife, Samantha, has also shared on social media.

Mr Woodman said: ‘I would say Skyla is about 60 per cent back to her normal self now.

‘But this whole situation feels like a big invasion of our personal safety, so we’ve decided to look into installing cameras to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

‘To fellow pet owners, I would say – as much as it is a hassle – be sure to check your gardens over and be aware of people who might be hanging around nearby.

‘We would hate to hear of anything like this happening again.’

The incident follows a recent string of animal-related offences across The News area, including the mutilation of a cat on Hayling Island.

Anyone who deliberately poisons an animal faces a £20,000 fine, or prison, under the Animal Welfare Act.

A spokesperson for the RSPCA said: ‘We were contacted on New Year’s Eve by the owner of a dog that had sadly consumed what is thought to have been meat laced with some sort of poison.

‘We urge anyone who has seen anything suspicious to contact us on 0300 123 8018, or police on 101.’

The charity advised pet owners that signs of poisoning include depression, seizures, twitching, vomiting, diarrhoea and a low appetite.