Owner reveals ‘scary’ moment his dog ate rat poison in horror baiting incident at Sydney park

Our beloved cocker spaniel, William, “lives life to the fullest.”

The sausage-loving, fun-loving dog poses a danger to any sausage sizzle around him.

But his hunger for a good hunt took another level last week when he swallowed six pellets of rat poison hidden among pieces of chopped sausage at a dog park in Sydney’s west.

William’s owner Steve Badgery has described the terrifying moment he realized something was wrong after he caught his dog eating at Weekley Park in Stanmore.

Unsure of what he was looking at, he picked up William and ran.

Mr Badgery told NewsWire: “He looked very out of breath – I don’t know if that was his reaction to me taking him home… My mind was going ‘oh my god, his heart rate increased’.”

She took him to the emergency vet, who was able to give William a quick and nice recovery.

But the vet told Mr Badgery that mouse baits could slowly poison dogs over weeks and lead to a painful death if left undetected.

“I was so relieved to see him eat it that I got there so quickly,” Mr Badgery said.

“It was a pretty scary hour though.

“We absolutely adore him and the thought of someone deliberately harming him or another dog is actually quite an emotional thought.”

The idea that someone would want to harm dogs is beyond Mr. Badgery, and Mr. Badgery cannot understand why someone would want to poison animals.

“Of course, dogs bark and maybe they disturb people, but this is a dog park… you should consult the municipality or the authorities about the issue,” he said.

Investigation into the municipality’s ‘avoidance’ response

Mr Badgery followed his own advice and reported the incident to the local council, which he claimed was initially “condescending”.

He was allegedly told that it was not the municipality’s responsibility to put up signs warning locals about the poison and that such a request could take up to 10 days to comply with.

“It seems strange to me that the council did not act immediately on this,” he said.

“To me, when someone says there’s an emergency, you dispatch them pretty quickly.

“A child could eat this and the child could become very, very ill or worse.

“Honestly, he looks like a real cop to me.”

However, the council later apologized to Mr Badgery and put up signs in the park, an outcome that locals were happy with.

Stanmore deputy mayor Chloe Smith confirmed with NewsWire that an internal review will be launched into the customer service team’s response and signage will be installed.

Ms Smith told NewsWire: “I can only imagine the distress (Mr Badgery) will feel for his dog and appreciate that the Council’s initial response was unsatisfactory and will add to his distress.”

“Dog abuse is a malicious and horrific crime that must be met with a timely and effective response to protect society.

“All of our Inner West parks should be safe and enjoyable for the community and I will work with council staff to ensure this experience is not repeated.”

Now that William is recovering, Mr Badgery said the Bunnings issue was certainly a possibility.

“We’ll definitely get a sausage and take him back to the park because he loves the park,” Mr Badgery said.

“I don’t want this person to win.

“He’s got a lot of personality for a small dog. He’s a fun-loving dog, even though he’s eight years old, he’s got a lot of energy and brings my partner and I so much joy.”

The University of Sydney Veterinary Teaching Hospital last week warned local people to contact their vet immediately if their dog visits the area and has recently eaten anything suspicious.

In the warning shared on social media, it was warned: “These substances are extremely poisonous and can be life-threatening for dogs.”

“If you take your pet to Weekley Park, be careful: keep him on a leash, supervise him closely, and prevent him from eating anything off the ground.”