A canine competing in the Crufts Dog Show in Birmingham, England, has been shockingly murdered. The 3-year-old Irish setter, named Jagger, who scored second place in his class at the prestigious dog show, was allegedly fed a poisoned steak prior to entering the ring on Thursday, March 5, his owners tell Reuters.
“An autopsy has revealed he was poisoned,” Dee Milligan-Bott, Jagger’s co-owner, claims. “The timings from the autopsy make it clear the only place this could have been given to Jagger was while on his bench at Crufts.”
The prized dog, who is also known by his pedigree name Thendara Satisfaction, participated in the competition and upon returning home the next day, became ill. Milligan-Bott told CNN that Jagger was “finding it hard to breathe” so he called the vet, but upon arrival at Jagger’s home, he had already passed away. “The vet thought it was suspicious, so carried out an autopsy,” she told the site. “They found cubes of beef in his stomach that had at least two types of poison inside. Pieces of beef had been stitched together so that the poison didn’t come out. He had enough in his system to kill a horse,” Milligan-Bott added.”We can’t fathom why anyone would do this.”
Jagger’s other owner, Jeremy Bott, told The Independent he thinks “somebody who has a grudge against dogs or [the] Crufts show,” was the one who poisoned the dog.
A spokeswoman for Crufts, however, alludes that Jagger’s owners should have been more attentive. “Whilst every measure is in place to protect dogs at the show, it is important that owners remain vigilant and avoid leaving their dogs unattended on benches, which is in fact stated in communication that is sent to all exhibitors before the show,” a statement to The Telegraph read.
A toxicology report is expected to be released next week and the dog’s death has been reported to the police.
