It’s a sad day for competitors and dog lovers everywhere. A three-year-old award-winning Setter, Thendara Satisfaction, known as Jagger has died. The owners are convinced it was poison.
On Thursday, Jagger came in second for his class for Best Dog; however by midnight the next day, he had collapsed. The event took place at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, UK.
Jagger was co-owned by Mr. and Mrs. Lauwers, and Dee and Jerry Milligan-Bott. The Lauwers, two professional dog breeders in Belgium, are devastated by the loss of their family member. “I am convinced it happened at the dog show. There wasn’t any other opportunity. It looked like an act of jealousy,” Mrs. Lauwers said.
Dee and Jerry Milligan-Bott, Thendara’s other co-owners, whilst speaking to media outside their home near Leicestershire, UK, said they would return to the dog show, saying the poisoning of Jagger, appeared to be “a random act” rather than a deliberate targeting. They’ve also said they do not believe that another breeder could have carried out the suspected attack.
“I prepared food for the dogs and I called Jagger to come over. He just collapsed and started shaking, it looked like a fit.”
Mrs. Lauwers
They immediately called the vet, but it was too late. A minute later, he went into a coma and died. Upon inspection, the vet said it looked like poison. “It was dark red meat, it looked like beef. Inside there were small colours – white, dark green and black,” Mrs. Lauwers said.
“The vet is convinced it is poison, possibly a few different types to make it work more slowly but efficiently. The people in the clinic also suspected it was poison.”
Mrs. Lauwers
A judge who spoke to the Telegraph on the condition of anonymity said, “Then there was another lady with a champion bitch who was sick in the morning, then she was ok when she was shown, and when she got home she was passing blood. Both ladies thought their dogs had been poisoned.” The judge saw more cases of potential poisoning, another case where the dog was vomiting in the ring.
“I saw one of the prize-winning dogs being sick in the ring on Friday.”
Anonymous Judge
It is believed the police in Belgium are investigating the alleged attack. Gillian Barker-Bell (the Irish Setter Judge) said, “Dogs have been tampered with at other championship shows so this is not a first. But I have never heard of a dog actually dying. What a sick mind to do something like that.”
We will provide more information and updates to this sad and tragic tale as they come up.
