Unbelievable! If you saw it on one of the soaps, you'd swear blind it was so far-fetched it was stupid.

I know..........I couldn't stop ranting about it to my husband after I came home, because I just couldn't believe it.

I don't think that man cared two hoots about it all to be honest, and as his dogs are always in his back garden and never the front which is open to the road, then I suppose that they are safe. Unless of course he has put the poison down there too - in which case his dogs may become rather ill in a few days time.

Yes Sally, the older I get the more I wonder exactly what some people have for brains

I've seen the effects of poison on a small dog and it is not nice. The bigger the dog the less the effect but no matter what size dog you have you should never use rat poison anywhere in your house or garden, he should have known that.

I'm so glad Jimmi is Ok now and didn't suffer but it doesn't bear thinking about what might have happened.

I don't understand some people. Why would you put it down in your own garden when you own dogs? I know you said that they ate kept in the back garden but it only needs them to slip out the front door once to get at it. Maybe you should let the vet know what he said about putting it down deliberately so that he can have a word with them about the dangers. Hope jimmi is fully recovered from his shock now.

How totally thoughtless of the man!

Rat poison is dangerous to humans never mind dogs, cats and wildlife!

Just because it's called rat poison doesn't mean every other critter will avoid it! It's vile, lethal stuff!

You can buy sealed units (which most pest control people will use) that only rats can get into that contain poison. I hate the stuff full stop personally but this is the safe way to use it if you feel you must.

I used to work in a cafe / restaurant next to a river and there were these little plastic boxes in various places close to walls where rats are most likely to go. (Rats are wall huggers - they won't run across a wide, open space. They will 'hug' a hedge, wall, fence. I have pet rats and they generally do the same.)

Leaving an open bag out deliberately is plain *stupid*!!

Oh and as for the whole pet shops selling rats and selling poison - when I first got my ratties (rehomes from someone who didn't want them anymore) my dad went down to the pet shop and asked "have you got anything for rats please?" The shop assistant smiled and led him to a shelf full of rat poison! Dad said "we've only just got them - we don't want to kill them!" She was very apologetic!

Thank you, I am still alternating between anger and bewilderment to be honest.

Jimmi is absolutely fine, and I am sure that as it all came up (nice and easy to see when it's bright blue!) there will be no nasty surprises in a few day's time. He only managed to get about a teaspoonful before I yanked him away, so who knows, that may not have been enough to do damage but it's not worth the risk is it. The thing is, another offlead dog, or a child, could have scoffed the lot.......and it was a big bag.

I agree, and what is even more bewildering is that their dogs are Jack Russells like Jimmi, so I am not sure that any rat would survive in their garden for very long. That is a good point about having a word with the vet, and given the attitude of the man I might do that.

Jimmi is absolutely fine, and now that the worry is over I keep laughing at his poor little face when the vet brought him back out to us after the deed was done..........his tail was up though, almost as if he had enjoyed the experience!! You could almost see him thinking, when we got home, "well, that was odd! Rushed into the vets - threw up all over their floor - came home again".

I did smile at that last bit.........so many people assume that everyone hates rats, but in a pet shop.???

We used to have a lot of visiting rats when we lived in the middle of nowhere, and had chickens and ponies etc. - sort of invites ratty doesn't it all that free food around! We also had dogs, so poison was never an option. It was fine though, and the rats disappeared in the summer. (We did have a major problem with mice in the house once, and unfortunately had to deal with those because it was beyond a joke). The thing is, poison is poison isn't it.........if it can kill something as big as a rat then there are no end of animals that could also be at risk if they eat the bait. I wish that it was banned for public use.

Good grief.......

Pleased to hear Jimmi is ok

x0x

Things like rat poison should not be allowed to br sold to the general public In my opinion.

The thought did cross my mind that he has two JRT why would you need rat poison.

Even if the dogs don't get them, the rats know they are there and would give them a wide birth, I would think.

How scary for you; I'm glad Jimmi is OK.

A couple of weeks ago my mum's nine year old lab, Beanie, had an emergency trip to the vet after eating six packets of rat poison. They were able to make her vomit it all up and after a vitamin K injection and a night on drip she came away none the worse. Very scary though

That is alarming, frankly. What sort of moron leaves an open bag of rat poison ANYWHERE that animals other than rats can access it???

It is not at all hard, if one needs to get rid of rats, to get proper trays that contain the poison but which dogs etc cannot get to.

Makes me wonder if this man secretly dislikes his own dogs and was rather hoping they might get hold of the poison!

Larger dogs have to ingest quite a lot of poison for it to be fatal but for smaller dogs, a little amount can be lethal.

Really glad Jimmi is OK - and sorry for you that you have these lunatics for neighbours!