Dog poisonings reported near Santa Fe

Tom Sharpe | The New Mexican

10/2/2008 - 10/3/08

A woman who lives southeast of Santa Fe says her dog was poisoned this week with antifreeze — apparently the third such incident in the area in the last six months.

Valerie Romano, who this month moved from Cloudcroft to a house near the Old Las Vegas Highway, not far from Eldorado, said her 4-year-old border collie, Zoe, wandered off Monday. After she returned that evening, Zoe vomited, was lethargic and fell down some stairs, Romano said. She said Eldorado Animal Clinic veterinarians diagnosed antifreeze poisoning.

Despite about $2,000 in veterinarian bills so far — including $425 for the antidote — the dog's kidneys are failing and her chances of surviving are 50/50, said Romano, who took Zoe home Thursday.

Romano said the person who lived in her house previously told her his dog was poisoned with antifreeze six months ago — the same day another local resident's dog was poisoned in the same manner. The Santa Fe County animal-control division says it has not received a single report of an animal poisoning for about a year.

"There should be some kind of awareness raised about this," Romano said. "If it was an accident, then maybe people are not aware that it is so sweet (that dogs) are just attracted to it."

For years, the cities of Santa Fe and Albuquerque have required antifreeze sold within their city limits to have a bitter-tasting agent. More than three years ago, the state Legislature passed a similar bill — "Scooby's Law," named after a golden retriever in Bernalillo that had to be destroyed after drinking antifreeze in 2003.