A Sitka veterinarian is warning pet-owners away from a part of town where two dogs were poisoned this week.
Pet’s Choice Veterinary Hospital owner Victoria Vosburg says the dogs ingested the poison somewhere in the vicinity of the Sea Mountain Golf Course. It’s about 5 miles northwest of downtown Sitka.
She says the dogs had different owners, and were not in the area at the same time.
“Both dogs were not exhibiting the typical signs seen with any known poisoning. By the end, we were fairly sure that at least a component was antifreeze. But because the signs weren’t classic, we’re not really sure what was going on,” she says.
Vosburg says the dogs ingested the poison Monday evening and woke up Tuesday with severe vomiting. Both died of kidney failure.
She says she’s not blaming golf course operators – or anyone else.
“We don’t know how they got the poison. We don’t know where they got the poison. We do know both dogs were in the area of the golf course. So the message I want to get out to people is do not walk your pets in that area, just in case there is more poison out there,” she says.
Vosburg consulted with the ASPCA’s poison hotline during her efforts to save the dogs.
