Rat poison killed Jack Russell
By Connie Vertegaal – 20-1-2015
ANDIJK – Jansen, the Jack Russel terreir of Robert Pit and Ellyn Larson, died on 1 December, after he had eaten rat poison.
The dog found the poison in the garden of the Andijker couple. Their other dog ate the poison, but probably digested much less. She survived by early administration of the antidote.
How the poison has entered the garden is unclear. The Andijkers suspect that has to do with an earlier case in which a third, a person who is familiar to them was involved. On 12 September, the handicapped Robert received an overdose medication by one of his caregivers. He was made unconscious. Robert had that day brought a significant amount of money from the bank. The money has disappeared.
The caregiver was three days detained as a suspect, but the prosecution dropped the case. Shortly after he was released, the dog died. “We do not feel safe. The police do not do anything”, said Larson.
Rat poison killed ‘the Wise Man’
Andijker couple feels threatened after dead dog Jansen
Noordhollands Dagblad – Rattengif doodde ’de wijze man’
By Connie Vertegaal – 20-1-2015
ANDIJK – When Ellyn sees her Jack Russell terrier Jane running in her garden, and Jane sniffs something, Ellyn can panic. A child on bike in the dark brings her fear. “We do not feel safe in and around our home” said Ellyn and her husband Robert.
Understandably, after what Ellyn and Robert have gone through in recent months. In early January the toxicology laboratory at the University of Ghent came with confirmation of what they already knew. Their dog Jansen (also a Jack Russell terrier) died on 1 December, as a result of rat poison he had eaten. The dogs found the poison in their garden, it was a blue, in the form of a bread bun.
Ellyn has a little bit of the poison, that her friend found after a search in the garden, which she has kept in the freezer. A self-drawn skull is on the plastic lid of the box containing it. This was also examined in Ghent.
Serious damage
Jane also ate the poison, but probably much less. She survived because she received the antidote vitamin K1 in time. Rat poison works only after a few days. And it is made so that animals find it very tasty. They can have bleeding anywhere in their body. Jansen got it at his penis, bladder and kidneys. The vet did not know what it was and did exploratory surgery and saw serious damage to the bladder. Jansen proved beyond saving.
Ellyn and Robert decided to carry out a necropsy by the Veterinary Faculty of the University of Utrecht. Ellyn is shocked about the work the institute delivered. “They are the only place in the Netherlands where you can get a poisoned dog examined. They work together with the police. But they dismissed the suggestion that it could be rat poison. They do no toxicological testing. That’s why we went to Ghent.”
Antidote
Jansen is the only victim of poisoning in the dog rich picturesque neighborhood by the Buurtjes Church, where Ellyn and Robert live. “There is no reason to think that a dog hater is active,” said Ellyn, who nevertheless warns her neighbors on Facebook. And she wants the vets to wake up because no practice in the area had the antidote in house.” I eventually had to get it at a regular pharmacy. The vets here are not prepared for a rat poisoning.”
The couple have serious suspicions that they were victims of a threat. Because before the poisoning of their dog was another drama. Robert, who had strokes in 2009 and since then uses a wheelchair, was administered an overdose of medication by one of his caregivers on 12 September.
Robert lost consciousness, Ellyn had to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. She was afraid of losing her husband. Later it became clear that Robert, along with the man had gone to the bank that afternoon to withdraw the money from the legacy of Roberts parents.
No action
The money is gone. The caregiver was held as a suspect for three days in November but released. The prosecution dropped the investigation against the man. Shortly after he was a free man, Ellyn found the rat poison in the garden. Ellyn and Robert hoped that the death of their dog would lead to the reopening of the investigation against the man.
”But the police now tell us that they will not take action. Meanwhile in December they told us to investigate the cause of death of Jansen, which cost nearly 400 euros [update €525]. They are doing nothing with it because we have not seen that someone gave him poison.”
Robert had from all of the stress and tension this month four seizures in one day. He misses his buddy Jansen. “The dog was therapy for me. I called him my ‘wise man’.”
For Ellyn was the Jack Russell invaluable. “He always warned me if there was something up with Robert. Then he came to me and he whined in a special way. I could work quietly while Robert was in another room. Jane does not have it at all, sadly. She does not understand it.”
