Farm dogs die after eating opossums

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 5, Issue 13, 25 August 1987, Page 2

Farm dogs die after eating opossums

Fourteen valuable farm dogs died last Tuesday night after eating opossums which had been killed with 1080 poison. A total of 17 dogs belonging to Ohura farmer Gordon Gower and his farm workers were poisoned when they were fed with apparently harmless 'dog tucker' obtained from an opossum skinning factory in Ohura. When they started to display the convulsive symptoms associated with 1080 poison, Gordon Gower put all 17 dogs in his truck and rushed them to Russell Steel's veterinary clinic in Taumarunui. That night 14 of the dogs died on the surgery floor.nothing could be done to save them. The previous evening another Ohura farmer, Tony Tompkins, lost one his two dogs after it had eaten

opossum meat from the same source. The opossums were; apparently supplied to the skinning factory in Ohura by a person from Matiere who failed to inform the factory that they had been poisoned and it was in good faith that the carcasses were supplied as dog food. It is understood that an opossum-poisoning programme is being conducted at Matiere as part of TB control measures. "Those carcasses should never have left the property they were poisoned on," said Mr Tompkins. "They should have been buried." "If the government want

to embark on tliese schemes they should ensure precautions are taken in accordance with their own recommended methods of disposal," he said. Apart from emotional distress caused by the loss of so many well-trained and valued working dogs the financial loss is also considerable. At up to $1000 each, the cost of replacing the team is estimated in excess of $10,000. The Taumarunui police have spoken to someone in connection with the incident but it is not known if further action will be taken.