At the beginning of August 2022, Keri Strauss, accompanied by her son Charlie and a 7-year-old Jack Russell Terrier, went to visit her father in Shrewsbury in the UK.
“We were walking around the nearby farmland and Ziggy found a dead mouse. He took it in his mouth and brought it to my father,” said the young woman.
After 2 hours, Ziggy, although he did not bite the beast, began to show alarming signs. He stumbled and turned around. «It was like he was drunk,» Keri said.
Fortunately, the owner’s father, an avid conservationist who regularly deals with venomous snakes, soon realized what was happening to the poor dog.
In a hurry, Keri took Ziggy to the Vets Now Veterinary Clinic in Telford.
“We prepared Keri and her family for the worst because, despite our best efforts, Ziggy was initially refractory to treatment,” explained animal health physicians Ela Barczak and Karen Booth.
Therefore, the priority was to find out what kind of toxic product Ziggy was poisoned with. Upon investigation, his mistress discovered that it was Racan Rapid, which contained alphachloralose. This deadly ingredient attacks the nervous system, not the vital organs.
The veterinarians therefore treated Ziggy with an anti-epileptic drug, as the poison had already been digested.
“We also gave him intravenous fluids, and despite some improvement, we had to put Ziggy on a continuous drip for almost 24 hours before he was stable enough,” said Ela Barczak.
Soon, he returned home and continued his treatment with his family. After 3 weeks, the dog is definitely back.
Today, Keri, who just graduated from the psychology department, wants to warn the public about the dangers of this product. He is also fighting to only allow professionals to sell it.
“A child could take a mouse, then put his hands to his mouth and get secondary poisoning. Ziggy didn’t even eat it and it didn’t have a perforation on it,» the young woman testified.