An unusual rash of pet deaths in the Marchand area has led many locals to believe someone is intentionally poisoning dogs and cats.

Marchand resident Rosalie Stelmack experienced this first hand when her dog ‘Buster’ died of rat poisoning this past Wednesday.

Prior to Buster’s death, Stelmack says she noticed him shaking and acting sickly. “We thought he had just eaten cat food and would be fine the next day,” she comments. The next day, however, Buster was throwing up blood.

“We thought something was really terribly wrong because of all of the blood on him so I raced him to Steinbach Pet Vet to see if they could help him and it was too late.”

A doctor at Pet Vet confirmed that the dog had ingested rodenticide.

“Rodenticides work as an anticoagulant,” comments Pet Vet Owner Leeanne Bargen, “they inhibit the normal clotting of blood in a mammal and they eventually end up bleeding to death with enough exposure.”

A later search of Stelmack’s yard revealed a chunk of meat laced with rat poison not too far from where her dog slept. Stelmack maintains that someone placed it there.

Stelmack is not the only one to lose a pet to rodenticide in recent months. Since January, fourteen pets from the Marchand area have become ill from rodenticide, twelve of which died. Stelmack however, was unaware of this dark pattern until she lamented her dog’s death on social media.

“I put up a post on Facebook to let people know what had happened to my dog and my neighbors started messaging me saying: ‘Oh my goodness the same thing just happened to me as well!”

Many of Stelmack’s neighbors suddenly began sharing similar stories of cats or dogs whose lives had recently been claimed by rat poison and, in some cases, the deaths seemed to be an exact reflection of Buster’s own.

Several Marchand resident’s reported that they too had discovered rat poison-injected food near their home after their pets had become unexpectedly sick.

A leading theory in the community is that somebody is deliberately trying to kill the animals. Though this has not been proven one way or the other.

Bargen, who was aware of the Marchand situation, admits that the trend of rat poisonings is highly unusual. Though she does not refute the idea that this could be a crime, she suggests there could be other explanations. “We could see clusters like this where someone has laid out rat bait and the dogs from the next property go over and snack on it.”

According to Bargen, symptoms of rodenticide ingestion include weakness, lethargy, rapid breathing, coughing, limping, and external or internal bleeding. Though it can be fatal if left alone, she says it can also be diagnosed on the spot and prevented with vitamin K.

Meanwhile, those who have already lost their pets want answers. “This is absolutely devastating for my family and I.” mourns Stelmack. “Buster was going to be 11-years-old next month and we knew we were going to lose him, but to watch him die in such a brutal was… I don’t have words… why are people doing this?”

Stelmack has since contacted Steinbach RCMP and asked them to look into it.