A concerned dog owner is now campaigning for clear warning signs after his pet labrador nearly died of metaldehyde poisoning when he walked her on farmland near Milland.
Dr Alan Cooper has written to pesticide safety officers at the
environment department Defra and both Natural England and police wildlife officers have visited the farmland to investigate.
He told Defra that his four-and-a-half-year-old black lab
rador had been desperately ill and not expected to survive after he walked her in fields close to Milland just before Christmas.
"The fields are unfenced and there were in places small piles of pellets at turning points which were only partially cleared when I complained," he told Defra.
"Many dogs were exposed for there were no warnings of any kind.
"Surely there should be some control on this practice in open unfenced fields and a need for warning the public in some way so dogs can be controlled from straying into these areas at least?"
Dr Cooper told the Observer that Bramble had been close to death and unconscious for four days after eating the poison used by farmers to kill snails.
"I know that if the poison is spread responsibly it is very little hazard to dogs, but if the spreader is stopped on a corner at a turning point and a pile of pellets is left behind, dogs can get a fatal dose in one mouthful."
He said the effects of the poison on a dog occurred very quickly, with fitting and high temperatures within an hour and a half.
"I am trying to ensure that the poison is used responsibly and spread thinly enough not to be a danger so that when turning corners or stopped, the spreader does not leave pellets in a high concentration."
He also feels strongly that warning signs should be placed on land where the spreading of metaldehyde is taking place to warn dog walkers of the danger.
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