Local resident urges caution after his dog became seriously ill from drug exposure near Bray Head
The dog owner is now calling again for the local authority to investigate the area, which has become popular with rough sleepers, after he had warned of “an accident waiting to happen” just three weeks prior to his dog becoming dangerously sick.
Today’s News in 90 seconds – 19th September 2024
Ian Bolton was out with his wife walking his two dogs, Sailor and Maisy, both labradoodles, in the area of Raheen Park last month, when Sailor, who is six years old, fled into the park and began scouring the bushes. The dog was gone for “literally about two or three minutes into the bushes”, Ian said, and when he was retrieved he was he was put straight back on the lead and the couple continued their normal morning walk with their pets.
But later that afternoon, Sailor was found on the landing in the home, “literally just lying there – he couldn’t even lift his head”, and was immediately brought to the vets.
“Pretty much straight away, the vet said she reckoned he had ingested something,” Ian said, and his dog was put on an IV and a drug test was administered.
“I was only home a couple of minutes and she rang and said it showed positive for THC, which she explained to me was marijuana. And then she said – and cocaine. I was like, ‘did you just say cocaine?’ And she said, yep.
“Then she said it was just as well that the marijuana was in the system because it counteracted the cocaine. She said if it had been just cocaine, he would have been in a whole world of trouble.
“That was the only time in the whole day that he was out of our sight – and me and my wife certainly don’t keep a stash of anything like that in the house. But what annoyed me even more was the fact that three weeks before that, I’d emailed the council about it. I sent an email to them on the 9th [of August] and basically complained about the tents. I sent them photographs and I said in my email about dogs going over to the bushes and there was rubbish being dumped.
“I literally just said this is an accident waiting to happen for a dog owner, and are you going to be responsible? You know, pay my vet bills if something happens to one of my dogs? If I had been a kid, if it had been a smaller dog, they probably wouldn’t have been able to handle it.”
Maisy and Sailor (right).
The issue was raised at the September meeting of Bray Municipal District, when councillor Joe Behan highlighted the area was being used by rough sleepers who have set up tents, and added there were reports from residents of anti-social activity.
“There’s four tents down there now,” he added. “Two tents have been there for ages and they even have pegs in the ground, marking out the territory. The tents have been there, easily, three or four months.”
Ian said he also went down personally and reported the incident to the gardaí, bringing the drug test with him. However, the garda on duty said he wasn’t aware of any tents and had “no calls” about drugs in the area. However, if cocaine was involved, it was suggested that “it could have been a stash”, a response that surprised Ian.
Ian wanted to stress that he has every sympathy for people who find themselves facing homeless and are in such a dire situation that they are forced to sleep in tents.
“My issue is, just because you’re homeless doesn’t give you a right to set up camp wherever you like, and dump rubbish and, as we’ve experienced, other stuff, like drugs. But my main gripe about it, is the total lack of response and the willingness to actually do anything about it from the council.”
Tents at the Raheen Park area, near Bray Head.
Ian added that having pressed the local authority, he did receive an email informing him that his concerns were being passed on to the relevant staff member, who he was told was on annual leave. He then contacted Cllr Behan, who despite being on holidays, replied to say that he would raise his grievances at the September meeting. However, there was no decision made at the meeting regarding any action that can or will be taken.
The incident follows earlier warnings to dog owners who have been sharing reports of cases of serious illness among their pets having visited parks in the north Wicklow and south Dublin area, in particular Shanganagh Park in Shankill, which is hugely popular with dog owners in Bray, as well as Cabinteely and Kilbogget parks.
While not able to comment on any individual cases, Bray Vet’s Dr Peter Wedderburn – well known to all dog and animal lovers as Pete the Vet – said that while it was something “we see every summer”, did warn that dogs do, on occasion, ingest other substances which might not even cross the minds of most dog owners.
He described one incident where a dog had come back from a walk and was very ill “and the vomit smelled very strongly off cannabis”. “So, in that particular case, the dog had eaten somebody’s drug stash and became quite unwell.”
