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Toxic Pesticide dangerous to pets, community
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By WENDY MITCHELL
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Staff Writer
AUGUSTA -- The Cross family loves living out in the country in Bracken County. Fresh air and acres to roam on the old farm are a dream come true. The property means room for the pets they love and other abused dogs they often adopt.
Then one of their dogs mysteriously died; then another and another.
"It has been going on for a year," said Elly Cross.
A shepherd mix the family called Paige died in November 2004; then the collie called Monster and golden retriever, Nikkie, the following spring. They were followed by Lucy Dog, the neighbor's dog and Australian shepherd puppies Moxie and R.J. in the fall.
"It was horrible. One minute they were playing and running around and the next minute they were having seizures, staggering around and frothing at the mouth in agony," said Cross of the last deaths.
Between Oct. 28 and the end of November 2005 there were four dead dogs and birds, dozens of birds.
"I used a rake to clean them all up," said Cross.
One survivor of the mystery is Dobie Dog, who has had two close calls with what was suspected of being a poisoning situation.
"Thank God for Dr. (Brian) Biddle (veterinarian). He saved Dobie Dog," said Cross.
Fearing the dead birds could cause the death of other pets, Cross bagged and disposed of most of them in the trash.
"I kept two birds frozen and took them to the University of Kentucky, but they wanted $100 to do testing and I was already looking at $1,200 in vet bills on the other dogs so I could only afford to have one dog autopsied," said Cross.
In desperation she took one of the dogs for a necropsy, an animal version of an autopsy. The lab was able to determine that an extremely toxic pesticide, Furadan, was present in the stomach contents of the dog. The logical assumption by Cross was that all the dogs had come in contact with the same chemical. Cross searched for the source of any poison on the property and found none.
Cross was furious and began research into the background of the pesticide that may have killed her beloved pets.
"Furadan couldn't get there by accident. It is not something that was spread years ago and still active. It only stays active above ground for about 120 days," said Cross. "This stuff is dangerous; farmers have to get a permit to purchase it and the fumes could actually kill a person. Because the dog had it in its stomach, it had to come from a baited product a dog would eat."
Cross had been frustrated at what appeared to be a local lack of assistance on the part of law enforcement and public health agencies in identifying the danger and reporting the carnage to the right agency.
"I called everywhere, the health department, sheriff's office, even the Kentucky State Police. They (KSP) told me to call poison control. Nobody knew who to call to help me," said Cross.
She then began a campaign of e-mailing several agencies including U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the Kentucky and U.S. departments of agriculture.
Last week part of her perseverance paid off when the U.S. Department of Agriculture called. The call was followed by a visit from someone familiar with situations like hers.
"We get six to eight calls like this each year," said Bob Snow, special agent for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Law Enforcement Division in Frankfort.
Furadan is a brand name for carbofuran. Because of the danger to birds, the granular form of the substance was phased out by most manufacturers in the mid-1990s. The liquid form is intended to be injected into the ground, said Snow.
"When we get involved is when there is evidence that it has been illegally used to illegally kill wildlife. The most common misuse around is against coyotes. The problem is that anything a coyote will eat, so will eagles, hawks and owls and it will kill them," said Snow.
Though he could not elaborate on the Cross complaint, Snow explained that the illegal use of Furadan is a violation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act.
Though she has had no complaints about her pets in the past, Cross is still worried that someone is targeting her neighborhood and could pose a future threat.
"It wouldn't take much to have a child pick up something a dog would play with and become sick. People need to understand that this chemical is out there and not being used in the manner it was intended. How evil can someone be to poison an animal that does nothing but want to love and play, " said Cross.
Determined not to lose another pet to the poison, Dobie Dog is never out of the family's sight now.
Anyone with information on the Cross incident or others in the Dover Road area are asked to call Snow and leave a message at 502-695-2722.
Contact Wendy Mitchell at wendy.mitchell@lee.net or call 564-9091, ext. 370.
For more area news, go to www.bracken-online.com |
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