A Glasgow woman whose golden retriever died after consuming a toxic substance on a nearby walking path has hit out after the substance has not been removed - nine days after his death.
Jane Rainey's four-year-old dog Oakley was out near Bargeddie Parish Church in the east end of Glasgow with his dog walker when the tragic moment happened on November 7.
Oakley immediately began to be sick after consuming the substance and was rushed to hospital.
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Speaking to Glasgow Live, Jane said: "Oakley was starting with a new dog walker and they headed through a woodland area next to Bargeddie Parish. Oakley ate something just off the side of the path. The dog walker didn't know what it was, but she said it smelled toxic, almost like manure.
"She messaged me to say he started being sick several times. I was at home with my kids with covid and asked her to take him to the vet.
"At first, the vet was not very concerned. They did the standard tests and were quite pleased that he had been sick because it meant his body was responding to get rid of it."
After returning home that night, Oakley began to deteriorate further and was rushed to the vet at Glasgow University the next morning.
Jane added: "I slept downstairs next to him that night and it got to the middle of the night when Oakley suddenly got up, but looked really weak. The next morning, everything went downhill.
"He got really ill so I phoned my mum and she contacted the vet and he got an appointment. Our dog walker took him back there and I received a call saying he was a really sick dog and they would do everything they could for him. I was just in pieces. They couldn't understand what was going on.
"At that point, covid or not, I was going to the vets. We were very careful, I told them I had covid and I wore a mask. When my partner and I got there, they told me the poison levels in Oakley's liver were off the charts. His blood pressure was also low and his gums were white, which is a sign of infection. He was a really happy dog, so seeing him so weak and ill was horrible. He began to stabilise but they needed to see if he would make it through the night."
Later that night on November 8, Jane and her partner John received the call from the vet informing them that Oakley would not make it and to come to the practice to say their goodbyes.
"We received a call at 9.30pm to say Oakley was deteriorating and rapidly and would not make it.
"We got to the vets as quickly as possible and they brought him through. He had been put on pain killers and they said he would be too weak to recover from surgery. We were there about 10 or 15 minutes before Oakley passed away. It was just horrible.
"The vet told that whatever he consumed burned its way through his gastro tract. She said that never in her profession had she seen anything like it and she didn't understand how it took hold so quickly.
"If it was rat poison, a dog Oakley's size would need to consume a huge amount and even then, it wouldn't have done what it did to his organs."
Jane and her family are now desperate to avoid the tragic event happening to any other animals and are looking for answers for what the toxic substance could be.
She told Glasgow Live that Public Health Scotland were informed of the incident nine days ago on November 9, but still the substance has not been removed from the area.
"A small sample was collected by my brother wearing protective gear and has been sent down to Leeds to try and work out what it is," she said. "We're now just waiting for the results to come through to get some answers. It is in a metal bowl and is blue in colour.
"We informed Public Health Scotland twice - both the dog walker and my mum got separate reference numbers from them and they still haven't removed that bowl.
"It is ridiculous it's still there. I went with warning posters to the site because the vet said to me today that they were concerned that it could kill other animals, but we don't want to touch it so we can't move it ourselves.
"It could do serious damage to other animals that come across it. I don't want any other animal to have to suffer the way Oakley did.
"Oakley was a fun-loving dog and everybody loved him. The fact that this has been known about for days and nothing has been done is terrible."
Public Health Scotland told Glasgow Live that North Lanarkshire Council was dealing with the incident.
However the council claimed it was only informed of the issue today after being contacted by the media and confirmed a member of the waste disposal team is now investigating the site.
A spokesperson for North Lanarkshire Council said: “The first we were made aware of this incident was when the media contacted us today. Anyone who comes across this type of waste should contact the council as soon as possible.
“A member of our Waste Services team is currently heading to the site to investigate the situation. It may require a specialist operator to dispose of the material.”
Public Health Scotland has now been contacted for further comment.
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