Owners have been left heartbroken by a spate of suspected poisonings at one of the most popular dog-walking areas on the Coast.
Over a 72-hour period, five dogs were rushed to the North Coast Veterinary and Emergency Critical Care, two of which died and one was euthanised.
In all cases, the animals had similar symptoms and had been walked within the previous 12 hours around Buddina, Minyama, Point Cartwright and La Balsa.
Many more cases have been reported in the days since, with a number of local vets raising the alarm.
Nicklin Way Veterinary Surgery confirmed it had been contacted by more distraught owners, fielding around six calls on Tuesday alone which were referred to the emergency clinic.
North Coast Veterinary and Emergency issued a public warning after some of the animals sadly could not be saved.
“We unfortunately have had a series of patients presenting with alike symptoms that may suggest a toxicity by ingestion,” the clinic warned.
“Although we are unable to confirm the cause of these presentations, the link to these patients is the area that they have walked within the 12 hours prior.
“Symptoms to look out for are gastrointestinal upsets, lethargy, or any change to your pets behaviour.”
In another message, practice manager Elyse Martin wrote that five patients had presented since last Thursday with what appeared to be acute kidney injury, and failed to respond to aggressive treatment.
At the time of sending the message, two had died, one was euthanised and two were in hospital.
When Sunshine Coast News contacted the surgery on Tuesday, more dogs had presented.
People commenting on Facebook have questioned whether a toxic substance had been added to the water in the communal drinking bowls near the toilets in La Balsa Park.
One resident, Alex Smith, told Sunshine Coast News that a family friend’s beloved 2.5-year-old cattle dog named Max (pictured above) tragically had to be put down.
“My friend’s dad took the dog for a walk Tuesday afternoon around Buddina-La Balsa,” she said.
“Wednesday morning he was lethargic, vomiting and bleeding from his rectum.
“They took him to the vet on Wednesday morning and by Friday they had to put him down as he was only getting sicker and his kidneys were shutting down.”
Another Facebook post mourned the loss of Billy who was walking at Buddina on Sunday and passed away early Monday.
“How anyone could be that cold and evil as to intentionally set about to kill dogs and cause the heartbreak to the family,” the post read.
“Dogs are our hearts, our love, our companions and faithful cuddle buddies.
“Spread the word and if anyone lives in those areas who has CCTV footage can you please look and share it to the police and RSPCA.
“I hope the universe lets us finds who is possibly responsible.”
Sunshine Coast Council confirmed it had received reports from a local vet of five dogs experiencing symptoms of poisoning after visiting the Buddina Beach area.
Council encouraged pet owners to:
- keep their dogs in sight at all times while in off leash areas,
- ensure their dog is responsive to voice commands before letting them off leash so they can be called away from unknown food sources and
- contact their vet at the first sign of any symptoms such as gastro, breathlessness or being listless.
Council urged dog owners and vets to report these instances to the Queensland Police Service.
Police were on Tuesday night checking records to see whether any dog poisonings had been officially reported.
One Mooloolaba resident who frequently takes her Labrador, Tank, to La Balsa Park said she was shocked and fearful that anyone would be so cruel as to poison people’s beloved animals.
“I don’t understand why anyone would do that. It puts the fear of God into you,” said Annie Scanlan.
“I won’t be taking Tank there. I think any dog owner would be thinking twice before going down to that area.”
In March last year council ran an “education campaign” at Point Cartwright after numerous complaints about “irresponsible dog owners”.