The rumor spread on social networks like wildfire, after the death of three dogs, poisoned with the help of meatballs, during the French canicross championship in Vauvert, in the Gard. Six days later, on March 18, warning messages began to invade the networks calling for the greatest caution in Lyon.
On Instagram or Facebook, Internet users indicated that their doggies had been intoxicated and damn sick. Taken from “vomiting” or “violent gastros”. The incriminated method was different this time: “pieces of bread soaked in antifreeze”. Pieces that some claimed to have picked up in order to throw them in the trash and avoid further poisoning.
In the space of a day, the messages fluctuated: cases would have been identified mainly in the 6th arrondissement of Lyon. But also on the banks of the Rhône, in the Confluence district, the Cordeliers or even in Villeurbanne. The Pet Alert site in the Rhône relay a message call for caution. Several dog-sitters, too.
No confirmed cases
One of them, which 20 Minutes joined this week, however, indicates that it has not been “personally” contacted by its customers on this subject. His neighbor’s dog was sick after eating cheese thrown in the courtyard of the building. But no analysis was done. It is therefore impossible to establish any link with the case.
Ten days after the panic observed on social networks, “no case has been confirmed for the moment”, reveals the city of Lyon. Same story on the side of the national center for veterinary toxicological information. “We have had no calls from dog owners or veterinarians,” she says, surprised at this supposed “uncommon” method of poisoning. “For an animal to be poisoned by antifreeze, a very large quantity of product would be needed. A few drops in a piece of bread would not cause such symptoms.
For its part, the Pet Alert 69 site confirms that it “did not have had contact with the owners of the dogs concerned” but underlines that it nevertheless “wanted to warn them”.