URGENT BULLETIN FROM THE PET CORRESPONDENT of the Lamma-zine, Jay Scott Kanes:

"Indications are that Lamma Island has been hit by an outbreak of dog-poisoning. The latest victims are Guapa and Ginger, two amiable (and slightly shy) brown dogs belonging to film-maker Alba Rayton and her husband John.

"This morning (September 27), the desperately-ill Guapa was euthanized. Then Ginger, who at first looked likely to survive, started to show all the same symptoms and deteriorate quickly. At the time of writing, her prospects looked grim too.

"Alba indicates that Lamma's veterinarian mentioned four other poisoning cases in recent days. Dog-owners across Northern Lamma should take immediate precautions to protect their pets, especially by using both leashes and muzzles. They also should watch for anyone placing poisoned food within dog-sniffing range of the pathways.

"The Raytons saw their pets "eat something" when out on a regular walk, but couldn't stop them in time. Alba and John have reported the incident to the local police."<HR>
P.S. from Sheila McClelland (LAP) - Lifelong Animal Protection - http://www.lap.org.hk:
There have been several other poisonings. Three poms, a beagle and a mongrel.
Looks like Paraquat
[a highly toxic weed killer, still used frequently in Hong Kong, but illegal in many countries: Wikipedia.]

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I feel sick!

I do hope they find whoever does this and throw the book at them!

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T. Clipper

Tragic and criminal. There must be some sad, cruel people about.

Where have the poisonings occurred? Is there any pattern to them? Any info would help in avoiding more poisonings and finding the murderer/s.

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Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.

That is very sad and really hope someone finally gets caught doing this although that seems unlikely unfortunately.

Thanks for the heads up and any further info on the locations where it occured would be useful for us dog owners and also to pay extra attention for any suspicious behavior.

Heard the poisoning happened in Yung Shue Long, the fire station path, basketball court area, and there might be other places too.

If the poison was indeed the herbicide called paraquat, it's very deadly. One single lick can be fatal.

Just spoke to Mr Wong at Lamma Police Station who has informed me that NO dog poisoning has been reported this year. Could victims of poisoning please inform the police again as soon as possible. Would it also be appropriate to post the officer's name and crime report number on this forum so that the police have no excuse not to investigate these crimes to the best of their ability? Thanks.

Latest updates from Dr. Hans and Dr. John. I spoke to both of them in person tonight:

7 dog poisonings in the last few weeks that they know of. The cases are very unlikely to be accidental but most likely intentional, putting Paraquat into food that dogs like beside the paths.

Locations from swiflet confirmed.

Police is involved and have even been visiting Dr. Hans's clinic today. But it's important to follow up with them as the cases might not be pursued or investigated sufficiently otherwise. Nobody has ever been arrested in the several outbreaks of Lamma dog poisonings over the last number of years, to our knowledge.

Get the village reps and other politicians with great local contacts involved, to spread that the police is looking for the poisoner so s/he might stop when more local villagers start looking for the poisoner as well.

Only advice for now:
Leash and maybe even muzzle your dogs outside for now to prevent them eating poison and dying the horrible, drawn-out, agonizing death of Paraquat poisoning. Alba's Ginger is still fighting for her life tonight....

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I think once Fluttershy (animal lover), the Pegasus from My Little Ponies,catches up with him and kicks this jerk in the nads, he can look foward to his new career as a Beijing Opera star....

Very sorry to hear about Alba's dogs. I always looked forward to see them on my way to work, beautiful dogs.

very sorry about the dogs.

I am also concerned about the frequent spraying of chemicals for mosquito control. They can have a bad effect on our health, our pets and our environment when used heavily or long term. I live in Yung Shue Long and every week (!) at about 9 am a team of poorly trained workers wearing masks spray straight into my garden, the undergrow and into any ditch they can find.
In Europe mosquito control is highly regulated, residents are warned beforehand and asked to keep their windows shut, pets and small children away from the affected areas, and it happens only once or twice in the summer.

Here nobody knows where and when they will spray, they spray too often and are still using chemicals that are banned elsewhere.

Latest update from Alba the Film-maker. She was interviewed by ATV Home yesterday about living on Lamma and mentioned her recent ordeal as well, of course. She heard from other dog poisoning victims and has counted more than 10 recent victims by now, several in the last few days alone!

Alba, husband John and I spent some time in the Policebox last night trying to convince the local police of the urgency and importance of following up on this case, as they seem the only ones who've reported any poisoning to the police so far. More victims need to come forward!
My story in the Lamma-zine, some of the dog owners and other press enquiries to the police (see below) seem to have caught the attention of the local police who'll send a detective around to investigate further.
We did a site visit of the likely poisoning location - near the sitting out area in the Yung Shue Long valley - together, just when the rain from the typhoon started, but there was no evidence to be found anymore.

I'll check today what the local powers-that-be can do to stop this poisoning outbreak as this is not the first time, it seems to recur every few years. very hard to catch the poisoner as you'd have to catch him/her in the act. The weed killer poison is legal, widely available and still widely used in HK, even though it's a "highly controlled substance" in many other countries.

Alba: "I had a call from the South China Morning Post and he's asking if I can find the names of the person who have lost dogs because they would like to interview them.

Here is the telephone of the reporter 2565-1181 his name is Clifford
[i][email address received from Island Bar where Clifford was also asking around yesterday: clifford_lo@scmp.com]

"Ginger is still alive, but Dr. Hans the Vet says it's just a matter of hours for her to die. We are devastated.

I will appreciate in a way if you could help me find people who have lost dogs, so the reporter could interview them by phone."

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This has been going on for 20 years or more, every so often there's another outbreak.

People use paraquat widely to kill off grass and plants, so it may not always be deliberate.

But I think you can forget catching the persons or persons who did it, and proving it anyway in a court? Unlikely.

Besides the fact that the outcome would probably be a small fine, this could make the culprit even more determined.

If you have a dog or cat on Lamma, this is the risk you run, and a lot of people have lost one or more animals, including myself.

From SCMP Thursday Sept. 29, 2011
http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/me ... ong&s=News

Fears of dog poisoner on Lamma
Pet owners on the island are on the alert after at least six animals have died from eating bait suspected to have been laced with a powerful weed killer
Clifford Lo
Sep 29, 2011

Pet owners on Lamma Island fear a dog poisoner is on the loose after at least six animals died in the past three weeks.

One owner, who lost a chow, said yesterday that the actual figure was more than 10 because some cases had not been reported and the owners had decided to bury their dead pets.

Click here to find out more!

The Lamma Animal Welfare Centre is warning all dog owners to be on the alert.

Centre chairwoman Elizabeth Huang said the dogs died after apparently eating bait laced with poison in either Yung Shue Long or around the fire station in Yung Shue Wan.

"We believe the poison was sprayed on meat left out on the street. It was a deliberate act," Huang said. Dr Hans de Vries of the Lamma Veterinary Clinic said he had come across three poisoning cases involving seven dogs in the past two to three weeks. Six out of the seven died and the remaining one was dying.

He said a lethal weed killer - paraquat - was the probable poison. The dogs he treated suffered the same symptoms - vomiting, difficulty in breathing and bleeding mouths.

The latest case was on Sunday when an islander was walking two chows - Guapa and Ginger - in Yung Shue Long. The woman said she spotted her three-year-old female dogs eating something. "I stopped them but it was too late."

The two pets threw up at night and were taken to a vet the next day. Guapa was put down on Tuesday to end her suffering. The owner said yesterday that Ginger was dying.

She urged other victims to report cases to the police, saying: "Everyone on the island is frightened."

It is also alleged that poison-laced bait was dropped into the front yard of a village house in one case. But Huang said no bait was discovered.

She said: "Pet owners should walk their dogs on a leash, muzzle them and keep an eye on their pets."

She asked islanders to keep an eye out for people acting suspiciously and tell police, and also to report any suspected toxic bait found.

The animal welfare group plans to put up posters to warn islanders and visitors in Yung Shue Wan.

Police said they had received one report on Tuesday. "We are looking into the allegation," an officer said.

Dozens of dogs have been poisoned and killed along Bowen Road and the Black's Link area in Mid-Levels.

One victim was former governor Chris Patten's dog, Whisky, which survived after eating poisoned chicken four months before the 1997 handover.

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals believes that more than 100 dogs have been killed since 1989.

A reward of HK$160,000, offered by the society, is still at stake for anyone who can help find the culprit.

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I think that animal protection and animal welfare groups should start petitioning the government to ban the sale of Paraquat in HK. The sale of powerful pesticides and weed killers should be highly regulated, as it is elsewhere. Chances of catching people who lay food baits to poison dogs are almost nil, so let's make it difficult for them to get hold of the poison.

One hundred percent in agreement. What do we do....Who do we lobby to make a voice heard...

It's total a crime! We should do something on this.

(Bad) English Google translation of this Apple Daily story today, see below.

The reporter was scouting through Yung Shue Wan yesterday afternoon asking a lot of people.
A dog-walking Chinese lady stopped me on the street to tell me and I forwarded the reporter to LAWC and LAP and Dr. Hans for first-hand accounts. The story - an URGENT BULLETIN by our Pet Correspondent - broke in the Lamma-zine last Tue, Sep 27, for the very first time and then spread quickly to several major local media, it seems.

ATV Home also filmed an interview with local parents all day Wednesday, but also with Alba who told them about her two dogs, of course.

RTHK interviewed our Dr Hans the Vet and a lady from SPCA live on air.

The District Council said no complaints had been received so far at all till yesterday. If any would come in, then they'd forward people to the police and Ag & Fish, but not take any further action to protect dogs and to scare the poisoner off, at least.

Police has filed their reports and promised a detective investigation, but no call from them so far. It's probably not any high priority yet, so it's very important that more people file their cases either in the Police Station in Hung Shing Yeh, or simply knock on the Policebox opposite HSBC and report your case!<HR>
http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/template/apple/art_main.php?iss_id=20111001&sec_id=4104&subsec_id=11867&art_id=15664303

"Apple Daily, Sat, Oct 1, 2011:

Lamma Island, killing 20 dogs in the last two weeks

A dog killer is again raging Lamma Island, the last two weeks on the island at least 20 dogs died of eating street food poisoning of unknown origin. There are dog owners have been reported, but unfortunately the police investigation, the preliminary view that no suspicious; the victim had to Lamma Island community forum to remind all dog owners to be careful to guard against code-named "luncheon meat" dog killer there.

Yung Shue Wan, Lamma Island site for the area north of the dogs, on Sunday evening on May 25, who lives in Yung Shue Long New Village of Alba and documentary producers woman's husband, retired dogs Ah John go out, they found support for three years Guapa and Ginger female dog had eaten the food channel side, but when they are too late to stop.

Four hours after two dogs appeared poisoning, Guapa soon coma, Ginger dying, two dogs were later sent to the Veterinary Department rescue, Guapa eventual death, veterinary mean Ginger is not optimistic about the situation. Two days later, Ah John, the police refer to the preliminary investigation that no suspicious circumstances, to pay miscellaneous Investigation Team.

However, Alba heard veterinarian revealed that previously had experienced a similar situation many dogs rescued by the dog owners brought, eventually die; more residents means the last two weeks of eating at least 20 dogs died of food poisoning is unknown, many people did not report.

Some residents refer to the use of luncheon meat as bait the dog killers, containing herbicides kill dogs, dog killers, it said this code is called "luncheon meat."

Live villager surnamed Chen in Yung Shue Long Old Village frankly, the dog killer put poison in the street not only food, but will kill a dog thrown into residential gardens, early last month that he kept four dogs in the garden is in this case death, when he back to the mainland no one at home, take advantage of being a dog killer. Foreign residents have lived in Lamma Island, said 25 years, know more than 100 dogs were poisoned so far.

Alba injured dog owners moved four years, ready to record Lamma Island style, she said in the forum of people living in harmony with each other in unexpected harm a dog killer is somewhat ironic. Reporters contacted a number of expatriate and local residents refer to the dog killer panic that the islanders, but also a social networking site forum to remind those dogs dogs dogs should wear a mask, so as not to eat poisoned food."<HR>
There'll be a village meeting on this topic next Thursday, Oct 6, 8pm in Diesel's!

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